Recent progress in photorefractive polymers: Materials and structures

Abstract

A new class of photorefractive polymers is described in which an inert polymer binder is doped with a great molecule called a dual-function dopant, which has the dual functions of providing optical nonlinearity as well as charge transport as required for the photorefractive effect. These materials are the first photorefractive polymers to show both nondestructive readout as sufficiently low reading power and optical trap activation, in which pre-irradiation by a uniform light beam increases the concentration of deep trapping sites in the material. In the area of potential applications, a new sample configuration is described in which photorefractive polymers are fabricated into an electric field switchable stratified volume holographic structure. Individual layers may be activated by applied electric field leading to improved diffraction efficiency and angular selectivity.