Abstract: A novel series of azo polymers, copolymers and polymer blends for reversible optical storage devices are described. Various azobenzenes can be bound in the side chain or within the main chain of long chain polymers such as polyester, polystyrene and poly methacrylates with very short or no spacers to a form amorphous polymers which as a film or deposited on a transparent substrate can be used to record optical information using a linearly polarized laser beam which induces optical anisotropy in the film. The information can be erased thermally by heating above the glass transition temperature, or optically by overwriting with light polarized in a predefined zero direction or with circularly polarized light.