Highly efficient photorefractive polymers for dynamic holography

The performance of recently developed by highly efficient photorefractive polymers based on the photoconducting polymer host poly-(N-vinylcarbazole) is investigated, and the use of these materials as recording media in dynamic holography and other applications is evaluated. A diffraction efficiency η ≈ 86% (limited only by absorption and reflection losses), a two-beam coupling net gain coefficient Γ = 200 cm^-1 and light-induced refractive index modulations as high as Δn = 7 × 10^-3 are demonstrated. Hologram growth rates of the order of 500 ms are observed with recording light intensities < 10 mW/cm², using either low-power laser diodes (675 nm) or a HeNe laser (633 nm). The materials show good sensitivity in this part of the spectrum. Applications such as dynamic time-average interferometry are demonstrated.