Transient volume holograms in polymethylmethacrylate

Abstract New transient volume holographic recording materials are described in this report. These consist of either coronene or 1,2;5,6-dibenzanthracene incorporated into polymethylmethacrylate. The largely amplitude, volume holograms formed as a result of triplet-state absorption have lifetimes of 6.4 and 0.9 s respectively and diffraction efficiencies close to the predicted values of ∼10 −4 . Production of permanent holograms has been prevented by careful control of the polymerization conditions to produce a matrix of sufficient rigidity to prevent reactions between the triplet states and the polymer. By using spectrally well separated write and read wavelengths, erasure of the holograms by the read beam is avoided.