Photoinduced translational molecular mobility in solid nanostructured azo dye films

A new mechanism controlling the molecular motion in thin azo-containing films during a photoinduced change in the surface nanorelief is found. It is shown experimentally that exposure of a solid AD-1 azo dye, deposited on a glass substrate, to incoherent linearly polarised light leads to formation of nanostructures with a characteristic size of 200 nm, which are similar to droplets of melt of this dye on the same substrate. It is shown that photoinduced mass transport in a solid AD-1 azo dye film can be explained by the mobility of molecules related to their trans—cis-photoisomerisation, which leads to film softening with subsequent formation of spherical protrusions under surface tension forces.