Dimensional changes in slanted diffraction gratings recorded in photopolymers

Photopolymers are appealing materials for many optical applications. For most of them, shrinkage plays an important role in the final properties of the display, especially in holographic data storage applications. In this paper, we demonstrate that to quantify correctly the shrinkage, it is mandatory to measure the angle of propagation for both diffracted orders ± 1, so that an accurate value of the grating vector can be calculated. Experimental evidence from three different photopolymers supports this affirmation. Firstly, polyvinyl alcohol acrylamide based photopolymer, which has been studied by many research groups; secondly, one environmentally compatible photopolymer developed by our group; and thirdly, a photopolymer with dispersed liquid crystal molecules. We studied the deviation from the sinusoidal profile analyzing the higher diffracted orders.