Thick rigid polymer media with diffusive development of gratings are suitable for archive information storage, and especially for 3D holographic optical elements. Diffusion of unreacted molecules of photosensitive dye ensures postexposure growth of diffracted light, which can be followed either by secondary growth, or by some decay caused by displacement of chromophore groups photochemically attached to polymer chains (photoproduct). In a long run, extremely slow, though still finite, diffusion of macromolecules leads to destruction of a holographic grating. Not only the rate, but also the shape of postexposure kinetics noticeably depends on the choice of particular polymer, its degree of polymerization, temperature of processing and thermal history of material: in aged samples, gratings appear more efficient.

Date Published: 8 December 2003
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 5216, Organic Holographic Materials and Applications, (8 December 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.505673

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5216:
Organic Holographic Materials and Applications
Klaus Meerholz, Editor(s)