R&D: Highly Sensitive Photopolymer for Holographic Storage

Optics Express has published an article written by Jinhong Li, Po Hu, Junchao Jin, Jinyu Wang, Jie Liu, Junhui Wu, Xiao Lin, and Xiaodi Tan, College of Photonic and Electronic Engineering, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350117, Chin.

Abstract: “The insufficient photosensitivity of conventional organic recording materials such as phenanthraquinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PQ/PMMA) significantly limits the recording speed in holographic data storage. Accelerating the formation of free radicals using the photosensitizer PQ during the photoreaction process and increasing the C = C double bond concentration of the matrix are effective methods for improving the photosensitivity. Using the above methods, we doped PQ/PMMA with the co-photoinitiator triethanolamine and co-monomer acrylamide to improve the photosensitivity of the material. Compared with the original PQ/PMMA material, the photosensitivity was increased by 10 times, and the diffraction efficiency was increased by 20%. The role of each doping component was studied by characterization and analysis. In addition, the introduction of the cross-linking agent N,N’-methylene-bisacrylamide, having high sensitivity, reduced the shrinkage of the material. We verified the application of the new material in a collinear system, and its high sensitivity showed its great potential for holographic data storage.“