A novel unsymmetrical photochromic diarylethene compound bearing dithiol-pentane unit, 1-[2-methyl-5-(1,3-dithiol-pentane)-3-thienyl]-2-[2-methyl-3-benzofuran-yl]perfluoroyclopentene(1a) has been synthesized, and its photochromic, fluorescence and optical recording strorage properties were investigated. The compound exhibited remarkable photochromism and clear fluorescent switches both in solution and in PMMA film. Using diarylethene 1b/PMMA film as recording medium and a linearly polarized 650 nm laser diode for recording and readout, polarization multiplexed image recording can be carried out in this film. The results demonstrated that the diarylethene can be potentially used as polarization multiplexing holographic recording medium.
