Distinct dynamic regimes in a material system with optically modulated diffusivity

We report on distinct dynamic regimes of optically induced redistribution of molecules in a reacting material. The physical system is a mixture of photopolymerizable monomer and nematic liquid crystal with space-time modulated diffusivity. An empirical model is developed which provides an excellent description of all the stages of the experimentally observed highly intricate dynamics. This dynamics is governed by spatially inhomogeneous photogeneration of radicals, their diffusion, and the photopolymerization-induced change in the diffusion constant.