Photosensitive materials for holography

Photosensitive polymers are becoming increasingly important for holographic applications. Commercially available polymers have proved essential to the development of holography as a tool to prevent counterfeiting, for hologra phic optical elements, as media for display holography, as well as media fo r waveguiding and to make optical interconnects. Simple polymers such as PV A, PAA, PVCz and PMMA were shown to be quite useful in the field of polariz ation holography, real-time holography, and non-linear optics. High real-ti me diffraction efficiency as achieved with dye doped dichormated polyvinyl alcohol (DCPVA) and polyacrylic acid (DCPAA) opens the door to a more exten sive usage of these polymers for specific applications. However, developmen t procedures and fabrication techniques have to be established to permit br oad utilization of these simple and inexpensive recording media.