Synthesis of photochromic diarylethene for rewritable holographic optical storage

A new photochromic diarylethene bearing a six-membered aryl unit, 1-(2-methyl-5-pheny-3-thienyl)-2-(2-methyl-4-pheny-phenyl)perfluorocyclopentene (1a), was synthesized and its photochromic and fluorescent properties were investigated. Diarylethene 1a changed the color from colorless to violet upon irradiation with 313 nm UV light, in which absorption maxima were observed at 554 nm in hexane and at 578 nm in PMMA film, respectively. This new photochromic system also exhibited remarkable fluorescence switching in the solid state. Finally, rewritable holographic optical storage using 1a was performed. The results demonstrated that the compound was very sensitive responding to 633 nm recording laser, and the recorded holographic images have good contrast.