Nonlinear bending of molecular films by polarized light

Abstract

A theory of photoinduced directed bending of non-crystalline molecular films is presented. Our approach is based on elastic deformation of the film due to interaction between molecules ordered through polarized light irradiation. The shape of illuminated film is obtained in the frame of the nonlinear elasticity theory. It is shown that the shape and the curvature of the film depend on the polarization and intensity of the light. The curvature of an irradiated film is a non-monotonic function of the extinction coefficient.