Glass‐forming cholesteric mixtures with photosensitive anthracene‐containing fluorescent dopants

Abstract

Three glass‐forming cholesteric mixtures containing anthracene‐based fluorescent dopants were prepared and studied. UV irradiation of films of planarly‐oriented films of mixtures leads to photocyclization of the anthracene fragments and, consequently, to decreasing fluorescence intensity. The kinetics of this photoreaction were studied. It is shown that fluorescence of the anthracene groups for all mixtures is strongly circularly polarized and can be controlled by UV light irradiation. It was demonstrated that the cholesteric mixtures prepared can be considered as promising materials for optical data recording and storage.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Research (grant 05‐03‐33193), the Russian Research Program ‘Universities of Russia’, and partially by CRDF (contract RC2‐539). The authors wish to thank Dr A. Bayer and Dr A. Reuning for technical assistance. A.B. gratefully acknowledges the research fellowship provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and INTAS (Ref Nr. 03‐55‐956).