We report on the photorefractive properties of two polymer composites that utilize a new bis-triarylamine side-chain polymer matrix. Correctly locating the frontier orbitals of the new transport manifold with respect to the HOMO levels of chromophores, allows stable continuous operation over exposure levels of more that 4 kJ/cm² when samples are electrically biased at 57 V/μm. This operational stability is combined with video-rate compatible grating build-up times and a dynamic range that allows index modulations of 3 x 10^-3 and gain coefficients on the order of 100 cm^-1 at moderate fields. The thermal stability of one of the composites reported is excellent, showing no signs of phase separation even after one week at 60°C. A comparison with the stability of composites where the new matrix was replaced by PVK is also presented.

Date Published: 8 December 2003
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 5216, Organic Holographic Materials and Applications, (8 December 2003); doi: 10.1117/12.506490

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