Photosensitive properties and a mechanism for photogeneration of charge carriers in polymeric layers containing organometallic complexes

New polyamide acids (prepolymers of polybenzoxazinimides) containing 2,2-biquinolyl units in their main chain are synthesized. It is shown that these polymers form stable complexes with acids derived from the transition and rare-earth metals. The results of photophysical studies support the assumption that the process of generation of free charge carriers via a state of a pair bound by a Coulomb interaction includes two stages and that metal-polymer complexes are involved in this process. The quantum yield of photogeneration amounts to 0.007–0.05.