Photoreactive thin films have been investigated extensively due to the advances in photonics, and the coupling between photochemistry and nonlinear optics has developed into a new discipline over the last decade. Light can manipulate the orientation of optically sensitive chromophores containing polymeric thin films, and this phenomena has important applications to the field of opto-electronics and photonics especially in such areas as liquid crystals and optical storage of information. Scientists from different communities have been working in this area representing such fields as chemistry, chemical engineering, polymer science, and optics. The purpose of this books is to provide a comprehensive reference covering the basic fundamentals of the interdisciplinary research as well as the applications in photonics.

Wolfgang Knoll is a former Directory of Polymer research at the Max Planck Institute. He is extremely well know for his research in this area. Zouheir Sekkat was a Postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck working under Professor Knoll. With Knoll's involvement, we can be confident that the best people in this field will be contributing to the reference.