Abstract
The variations in the anisotropic refractive indices of diarylethene-doped poly-methyl-methacrylate films after photoisomerization by irradiation with pump lights of parallel and perpendicular polarizations were measured by the attenuated total reflection (ATR) method. Almost no anisotropy was detected in the shifts of ATR dips, but anisotropy was detected by measurements of the real-time dynamics of the reflectivity change at a fixed angle by alternate irradiation with pump lights that are polarized either parallel or perpendicular to the polarization of the waveguide mode. The dynamics provides more sensitivity at the half maximum of the waveguide modes and what is quite smaller than the 10-3 refractive index change that was detected by such a technique.