Formation of intensity gratings was studied with two s-polarized (s+s) configuration in polymer liquid crystals (PLCs) containing a photochromic moiety (azobenzene) and a mesogenic unit (tolane, T-AB; cyanobiphenyl, CB-AB) by photoinduced alignment of PLCs. Remarkable differences were observed between the two PLCs. T-AB showed a faster response to the change in the diffraction intensity than CB-AB. In T-AB, alignment change took place faster than that of CB-AB. By introducing the tolane unit at the side chain, we obtained a diffraction efficiency of 30 % in the Raman-Nath regime