Photorefractive
polymers are complex set of polymeric materials. They have extraordinary
structures with mobile electronic charges. They belong to the group of smart
materials exhibiting metal like features. The movements of mobile electronic
charges are carried out by exposing to light or by the application of electric
field. The main applications of Photorefractive polymers are in barcode readers
and in information storage devices. This type of material was first synthesized
by a team of researchers lead by Michael Wasielewski at Chemistry department of
Northwestern.
