Influence of fabrication conditions on characteristics of phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer for holographic memory

In this paper, we experimentally investigate the influence of the fabrication conditions on holographic characteristics in phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PQ:PMMA) bulk photopolymer. In our investigation, the PQ:PMMA bulk samples are fabricated by use of a two-step thermo-polymerization method. We firstly propose to monitor relative viscosity of the monomer solution during the sample preparation to obtain a reliable criterion for material fabrication. We then compare experimentally characteristics of 2-mm thick samples fabricated with different conditions for holographic memory. The results show that the conditions in the first step play a important rule for fabricating bulk PQ:PMMA samples with good optical uniformity. In addition, the conditions in the second step play the rule for controlling the concentration of residual monomer and determine holographic characteristics. These results can provide a useful rule for fabricating bulk PQ:PMMA photopolymers for further applications on volume holographic data storage.