All-Optical Photorefractive Effect in Carbazole-Based Azo-Side Group Polymer

We observe the photorefractivity without bias voltage or prepoling in a bifunctional photorefractive polymer. The maximum two-beam coupling gain is measured to be 126 cm−1 at zero bias voltage. The sample is considered to be poled by the photoinduced longitudinal electric field, which is formed due to the light intensity gradient along the light path. The expression of the electric field was deduced. The energy transfer direction between two writing beams and light intensity dependence of the two-beam coupling gain coefficient is predicted to be consistent with the experimental results. Furthermore, the dependence of the two-beam coupling gain coefficient on external applied electrical field is measured and this experiment verifies the existence of the photoinduced longitudinal electric field.