Reaction-diffusion model applied to high resolution Bayfol HX photopolymer

Abstract

We have been developing a new class of recording materials for volume holography, offering the advantages for full color recording and depth tuning without any chemical or thermal processing, combined with low shrinkage and detuning. These photopolymers are based on the two chemistry concept in which the writing chemistry is dissolved in a preformed polymeric network. This network gives the necessary mechanical stability to the material prior to recording. In this paper we show that the recording process in these materials can be successfully described within a reactiondiffusion model. For the first time the combination of plane-wave recording data in transmission and reflection geometry was used to extract the model parameters. This was achieved via a master curve construction of the respective power density response functions of the photopolymer at saturation recording conditions. Within that model, power density response, spatial frequency response, non-locality effects, beam ratio effects and even dosage response can be predicted and explained for a wide range of CW recording conditions which are important for various holographic applications of these new materials.