This book explores functional polymers containing aromatic azo chromophores in side-chain
main-chain and other parts of their structures known as azo polymers and which share common
photoresponsive properties. It focuses on the molecular architecture of azo polymers the
synthetic methods and their most important functions such as photoinduced birefringence and
dichroism surface-relief-grating (SRG) formation and light-driven deformation of liquid
crystal elastomers. It combines a general survey of the subject and in-depth discussions of
each topic including numerous illustrations figures and photographs. Offering a balance
between an introduction to the core concepts and a snapshot of hot and emerging topics it is
of interest to graduate students and researchers working in this and related fields. Xiaogong
Wang is a Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering Tsinghua University China.
