Photophysical and Redox NIR‐Sensitivity Enhancement in Photorefractive Polymer Composites

Through the gate: The photophysical effect of “gating” (preillumination at a shorter wavelength) dramatically enhances the near‐infrared sensitivity of photorefractive polymer composites with generation‐limited recording dynamics. Gating with a short, intense pulse yields better results than when using a longer pulse of reduced intensity. Redox doping (providing permanent charges) leads to an additional improvement of the sensitivity by a factor of two. See the picture for an illustration of the gating mechanism.