Multi-Layered Anisotropic Films Based on the Azo Dye Brilliant Yellow and Organic Polymers

A technique for producing multi-layered fi lms containing alternating layers of photo-aligned dichroic azo dye brilliant yellow (BY) dispersed in a matrix of polyvinylpyrrolidone and optically transparent polycyclohexadiene (PCHD) was developed. The optical density of the films depended linearly on the number of layers of dye and its concentration in the initial solutions. It was determined that the surface roughness of the composition BY layer on the PCHD layer was three times less than on single-crystalline silicon substrate (4.8 and 1.5 nm). Multi-layered fi lms based on BY exhibited dichroic absorption and birefringence upon irradiation with linearly polarized light (lambda = 450 nm).