2-PHOTON HOLOGRAPHIC RECORDING IN ALUMINOSILICATE GLASS CONTAINING SILVER PARTICLES

Recording of holographic gratings by 532-nm laser pulses in photochrom ic bulk aluminosilicate glass containing silver particles is demonstra ted. A diffraction efficiency of 1.5% is achieved for readout at the s ame wavelength. The speed of grating formation as a function of pulse energy suggests that two-photon excitation is responsible for the reco rding. The light causes bleaching of an absorption peak near 417 nm, w hich corresponds to the excitation of surface plasmons on the silver, and broad darkening throughout the visible to the near infrared. A lik ely mechanism for the photochromic effect is discussed. (C) 1997 Optic al Society of America.