Effects Of A Radiation Dose In Gamma-Ray Irradiation Fields On Holographic Gratings Formed By Liquid Crystal Composites

The radiation resistance of liquid crystal diffraction gratings was investigated using a cobalt 60 gamma radiation source until the radiation reached a total dose of 1000 Mrad, corresponding to a very severe amount of radiation. The optical properties of gratings exposed to gamma-ray radiation were discussed with internal observations such as polarization optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The radiation resistance of liquid crystal diffraction gratings for gamma-ray irradiation has been explained by associating the optical characteristic measurements for liquid crystal composite materials, including a glass substrate, by analyzing the internal volume grating structure. The radiation resistance for anisotropic diffraction in the HPDLC grating has been explained by the modulation of the LC orientation in the polymer network configuration affected by the gamma-ray irradiation. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement