Redox-active, organometallic surface-relief gratings from azobenzene-containing polyferrocenylsilane block copolymers.

Organometallic gratings: the ionic self-assembly of metal-containing block-copolymer polyelectrolytes and azobenzene chromophores is exploited for the efficient production of stable photo-induced surface-relief gratings. We show that feature sizes can be tuned using simple redox chemistry, and that the chromophores can be removed during plasma treatment to yield ceramic-based optical materials.