Real-time direct measurement of diffraction efficiency of reflection gratings in photopolymer recording materials

Photopolymer recording systems have received a great deal of attention as a material for optical information storage and production of diffraction gratings. Before using these materials in such systems, it is important to characterize them and understand the processes which run during holographic recording, so that the recording itself can be optimized to obtain an efficient diffraction grating. In this contribution, we present a new method for real-time measurement of the diffraction response of reflection gratings during the recording process. Usually, the recording process in photopolymers is characterized by the real-time measurement of a transmission diffraction grating growth. This method does not allow measuring the growth of gratings with a very narrow spatial period in the reflection configuration. The new approach is based on the idea that the reflection grating is illuminated with white light at a different angle from the recording one and the diffraction efficiency is continuously measured with a spectrophotometer. Kogelnik’s coupled wave theory is used as the theoretical background in this contribution. Experimentally, the photopolymer Bayfol HX has been tested in the reflection configuration and growth curves have been measured to show a good applicability of the detection method.