Dyes often act as the photoinitiator PI/photosensitizer PS in photopolymer materials and are therefore of significant interest. The properties of the PI/PS used strongly influences grating formation when the material layer is exposed holographically. In this paper, the ability of a recently synthesized dye, D_1, to sensitise an acrylamide/polyvinyl alcohol (AA/PVA) based photopolymer is examined and the material performance is characterised using an extended Non-local Photopolymerization Driven Diffusion (NPDD) model. Electron Spin Resonance Spin Trapping experiments (ESR-ST) are also carried out to characterize the generation of the initiator/primary radical, R•, during exposure. The results obtained are then compared to those for the corresponding situation when using a Xanthene dye, i.e., Erythrosin B (EB), under the same experiment conditions. The results indicate that the non-local effect is greater when this new photosensitizer is used in the material. Analysis indicates that this is the case because of the dyes (D_1) weak absorptivity and the resulting slow rate of primary radical production.

Date Published: 8 May 2015
PDF: 15 pages
Proc. SPIE 9508, Holography: Advances and Modern Trends IV, 95080I (8 May 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2179433

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9508:
Holography: Advances and Modern Trends IV
Miroslav Hrabovský; John T. Sheridan; Antonio Fimia, Editor(s)