CRYSTALLIZATION-RESISTANT PHOTOREFRACTIVE POLYMER COMPOSITE WITH HIGHDIFFRACTION EFFICIENCY AND REPRODUCIBILITY

We report on a high optical quality, long-life guest-host photorefract ive polymer composite which exhibits a 60% device steady-state diffrac tion efficiency and 120 cm(-1) two-beam coupling gain, well in excess of its absorption of 3.5 cm(-1), at a wavelength of 676 nm. In contras t to alternative composite materials of comparable high dye content, t his performance has been achieved without unacceptably compromising de vice lifetime or ease of fabrication and storage. This is an efficient , easily prepared and comparatively stable polymer composite with devi ce lifetimes under storage conditions already exceeding eight months a nd no indication of sample degradation with repeated holographic read- write cycles. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.