PQ/PMMA photopolymer: Modelling post-exposure

Phenanthrenequinone (PQ) doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) photopolymer material is currently being actively investigated. A previously developed 1-D Nonlocal Photo-polymerization Driven Diffusion (NPDD) model is applied to further examine the behavior of the material post-exposure. The use of the nonlocal parameter when examining PQ/PMMA is discussed. The resulting predicted evolution of the first harmonic refractive index modulation is simulated both: (i) a long time post-exposure, and (ii) in the case of thermal treatment post-exposure. The convergence of the numerical simulations is examined, when both 12 and 4 spatial concentration harmonics are retained in the Fourier series expansions describing the various component material distributions. Several physical processes are studied, including the nonlocal material response and the effects of the diffusion of both the ground state and excited states PQ molecules (during and post-exposure). The effects of the use of different exposing intensities on the final grating formed are studied. The size of the higher grating harmonic concentration amplitudes in this final distribution is also discussed. Thus in this paper for the first time the effects/treatments taking place post-exposure are systematically studied. Our aim is to characterize the final stable grating. We show that both the nonlocal effect and the diffusion of the PQ excited states tend to weaken the PQ-PMMA grating but lead to higher fidelity of the recorded pattern. It is also shown that higher harmonic gratings are generated when higher exposing intensity is applied.