Photochromic diarylethene for reversible holographic recording

A novel photochromic diarylethene with 2,5-dihydrothiophene bridging unit 1a was synthesized, and the photochromic properties of 1 were also investigated. It showed that 1 exhibited excellent ring-open and ring-closed photochromism with UV/vis light irradiation. Holographic recording was measured by employing the thin film of PMMA–diarylethene 1 as recording media. It showed that six different images were recorded in the same place on the sample with the dimension of 64 μm × 42 μm by the intersecting of the object beam and a reference beam with an intensity of 15 mW/cm2, and the stored information was readout by the attenuated reference beam with an intensity of 0.5 mW/cm2. In addition, preliminary investigations showed that the material was thermally stable and fatigue resistant.