Characterization of photopolymerizable nanoparticle-(thiol-ene) polymer composites for volume holographic recording at 404 nm

We report on volume holographic recording in thiol-ene based nanoparticle-polymer composites (NPCs) at a wavelength of 404 nm by using a highly coherent blue diode laser. We study the photopolymerization dynamics of two types of thiol-ene based NPCs doped with different blue-sensitive initiator/sensitizer systems (Darocur ® TPO and Irgacure ® 784/BzO2) at various doping concentrations. We also characterize a volume holographic grating recorded in these two types of thiol-ene based NPCs. Such material characterization includes the refractive index modulation, the material recording sensitivity and polymerization shrinkage. It is shown that Darocur R _ TPO provides larger refractive index modulation and higher material recording sensitivity than those with Irgacure ® 784/BzO2 but these two blue-sensitive initiator/sensitizer systems amount to meeting the requirements of the refractive index modulation and the material recording sensitivity for holographic data storage. However, it is found that shrinkage reduction of a volume grating recorded in these two types of thiol-ene based NPCs at 404 nm is not as effective as the same thiol-ene based NPC doped with Irgacure ® 784/BzO2 at 532 nm.