UV-polarizing linear polyyne molecules aligned in PVA

Electronic absorption bands of conjugated linear carbon chain molecules, namely polyynes H(CC)_nH (n=5-7), are exploited to devise light-polarizing films applicable to the UV. Laser ablated polyynes are separated in size and dispersed in a film of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is stretched to align the trapped linear polyyne molecules inside. As a nature of the structural anisotropy, transition dipole of the UV absorption for polyyne molecules is in parallel with the molecular axis and the absorption occurs only for the electromagnetic wave having the amplitude of its electric vector along the molecular axis. Aligned and fixed orientationally in the solid PVA film, polyyne molecules act as selective absorbers of one of the polarization components of incident light at particular wavelength. Using a light source of linearly polarized UV light, whose direction of polarization is rotatable, angular dependence of the absorption intensity is investigated for the stretched PVA film containing aligned polyyne molecules and analyzed in terms of an order parameter in the theory of linear dichroism.