The effect of the reversible photo-orientation of the Solvent Red 23 dye
incorporated in Poly (methyl methacrylate) thin films has been investigated. A
probe-pump optical system was used to investigate the dichroic behavior of the
samples. Orthogo
nal polarized laser light induces a smaller increase in the
transmitted beam intensity. A stronger polar order was induced using a
parallel pump-probe laser light compared to that of the perpendicular state. It
was found that the dichroic ratio value of the Poly (methyl methacrylate) /
Solvent Red 23 thin film is 4.952, which indicates that the net orientation of
Solvent Red 23 molecules is orthogonal to the applied beam field. The dynamic
evolution of the dichroic ratio showed that the relaxation is rather slow, and it
deteriorates in a slow logarithmic fashion, which may take a very long time in
order to reach the isotropic state.