Volume Holographic Material for Red Spectral Range Based on Polymer with Anthracene Side Groups

The possibility of volumetric phase recording based on photo-oxidation of the side anthracene groups of a new polymer with a glass transition temperature of ~338 K by oxygen that enters the layer across the boundary with the atmospheric medium, was established experimentally. Volumetric holographic gratings with a maximum diffraction efficiency of 2.5–9.5% were recorded with the radiation from a He–Ne laser (λ = 633 nm) in layers 5–20-μm thick. It was shown that in layers thicker than 10 μm the diffraction efficiency is limited by saturation of growth in the modulation depth of the optical path difference. This effect is due to increase in the radius of the photorefraction sphere around the photosensitizer molecule with the increased photoconversion of the anthracene groups, which lowers the resolution of the holographic grating and its effective thickness.