Synthesis, Optoelectronic Property and Application for Optical Recording of a New Diarylethene

A novel photochromic diarylethene, 1-[2-methyl-5-(4-trifluoromethylphenyl)-3-thienyl]-2-[2-methyl-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-thienyl] perfluorocyclopentene(1a), was synthesized, and its photochromic and fluorescent properties were investigated in detail. This compound exhibited reversible photochromism, changing from colorless to blue after irradiation with UV light both in solution and in poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA) amorphous film. Also, it showed strong fluorescence and gave a bathochromic shift upon increasing concentration in hexane. At last, using diarylethene 1b/PMMA film as recording medium, polarization holographic optical recording was performed perfectly by a He-Ne laser with 633 nm wavelength. The results demonstrated that it can be potentially used as polarization holographic optical recording medium.