New recording materials for the holographic industry

This paper describes a new class of recording materials for volume holographic applications suitable to meet commercial manufacturing needs. These next-generation holographic photopolymers have the ability to satisfy the unmet demand for color and depth tuning that is only possible with volume holograms. Unlike earlier holographic photopolymers, these new materials offer the advantages of no chemical or thermal processing combined with low shrinkage and detuning. Furthermore, these materials exhibit high transparency, a high resolution of more than 5000 lines/mm and are environmentally robust. Bayer MaterialScience plans to commercialize these materials, which combine excellent holographic characteristics with compatibility to mass-production processes. In this paper, we will briefly discuss the potential markets and applications for a new photopolymer, describe the attributes of this new class of photopolymers, relate their ease of use in holographic recording, and discuss potential applications of such materials..