Optical restoration of photorefractive holograms

We consider the possibility of restoration and/or enhancement of decaying holograms in photorefractive media by using a simple optical readout in conjunction with a phase conjugator. The results indicate that extremely weak holograms can be enhanced provided that the two-beam coupling is sufficiently strong. Steady-state photorefractive holograms can be maintained continuously without decay by using a self-enhanced readout scheme. The results also provide an explanation for the formation of mutually pumped phase conjugation in terms of the amplification of an initial noise grating. The results are presented and discussed.     

Experimental study of the angular selectivity of volume phase holograms stored in LiNbO3

Changes in the angular Bragg selectivity of volume holograms stored in photorefractive LiNbO₃ are analysed for different experimental conditions in the transmission geometry. The effects of the refractive-index-change amplitude, the grating period, the modulation depth, and the wave-front modulation of the signal beam are considered. A very good agreement of the results with the off-Bragg diffraction theory is observed.     

Application of interference microscopy to the study of hologram build-up in LiNbO3 crystals

Interference microscopy was applied to direct microscopic observation of temporal evolution of phase holograms in LiNbO₃:Fe photorefractive crystals. First a hologram was recorded in the sample, and diffraction efficiency was monitored during hologram build-up using inactinic laser light. Thus kinetics of hologram build-up could be determined. The initial hologram was erased using white light. Then a series of write-erase cycles were performed with increasing exposure times. Holograms were observed by interference microscope after each exposure. The time elapsed between the exposure and the microscopic observation was negligible compared to the relaxation time of the hologram. The obtained temporal evolution of the grating profile gives a deeper insight into the physical mechanism of hologram formation in photorefractive materials than simple diffraction efficiency measurements. A congruently grown sample of LiNbO₃ doped with 10⁻³ mol/mol Fe in melting was studied by this method. Sample thickness was set to 300 μm to allow correct microscopic observation. Plane-wave holograms were recorded in the samples using an Ar-ion laser at λ = 488.0 nm of grating constants of 3, 6.5 and 8.8 μm.     

Subharmonic generation in photorefractive crystals: Application of theory to experiment

The main results of the theory of spatial subharmonics in photorefractive crystals are summarized. The theory shows that Kukhtarev's equations for the photorefractive response are not valid for sufficiently large values of the mobility-lifetime product and for certain parameters (external field, frequency detuning, grating vector, pump intensity) of a two-beam experiment. The solution for the space-charge field including only the fundamental and the higher harmonics is not stable against the generation of new spatial frequencies. The condition of subharmonic generation and the main characteristics of the subharmonics are expressed by standard experimental and crystal parameters. Good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment is obtained. The prospects of further investigations of subharmonics are discussed.     

Holographic storage in sensitized polymethyl methacrylate blocks

The storage properties of thick PMMA-blocks, sensitized for =514 nm and containing residual monomer, are investigated by making use of holographic methods. The fundamental refractive index grating amplitude shows a characteristic development in a two-beam holographic experiment. A remarkable self-development of the light induced refractive index change is observed just as considerable higher harmonic amplitudes (strong nonlinear response). The recording-sensitivity is small in comparison to that of other storage materials and adversely affected by appreciable holographic scattering. The behavior of the samples during long storage times is investigated and the possibility of thermal fixing and superposition of holograms is shown. The interpretation of the observed properties and the behavior in the holographic experiments suggests a model of the microscopic processes: storage is essentially performed by light induced polymerisation of residual monomer.     

Display method with compensation of the spatial frequency response of a liquid crystal spatial light modulator for holographic femtosecond laser processing

Liquid crystal spatial light modulators, which are widely used as display devices for computer-generated holograms, have modulation characteristics that depend on spatial frequency. We describe a method for displaying a computer-generated hologram on a liquid crystal spatial light modulator with compensation of its spatial frequency response. Using this method, we demonstrate a binary phase grating with smaller dependence on the spatial frequency. We also demonstrate application of the display method to holographic femtosecond laser processing.     

Comparison of the effects of two bleaching agents on the recording of phase holograms in silver halide emulsions

Optical densities before bleaching and final Lin-curves of plane-wave phase holograms recorded in Agfa-Gevaert 8E75HD emulsions were determined for combinations of the AAC developer with a solvent bleach (R-9) and a (fixation-free) rehalogenating bleach (R-10). To characterize the processing, the square root of the diffraction efficiency of the processed holograms was related to the amplitude of the optical density modulation obtained at the development step. Sensitivity, linearity and dynamic range of the processes could thereby be compared directly.     

Effects of recording wavelength on three-dimensional vector holograms in photoreactive liquid crystal composites

Effects of recording wavelength on the recently proposed (Sasaki, 2008) three-dimensional vector holograms, in which the optical anisotropy is three-dimensionally modulated, are presented experimentally and theoretically. The polarization states of the interference light are three-dimensionally modulated due to both the polarization interference and optical anisotropy in the recording medium. These spatial distributions of the polarization states and the resulting diffraction properties in the three-dimensional vector holograms are strongly dependent on the recording wavelength. Theoretical consideration based on the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method reveals the mechanism of the optical characteristics of the three-dimensional vector holograms recorded by various kinds of light sources with different wavelengths.     

Digital off-axis holography without zero-order diffraction via phase manipulation

By means of manipulating the phase information of the object beam in an off-axis digital holographic setup, we show that it is possible to fully eliminate the zero-order diffraction (ZOD) from numerically reconstructed holograms. Two different approaches are presented. In the first method, we introduce a ground glass on the object path beam to provide a random phase illumination. The subtraction between two holograms recorded with different positions of the ground glass yields a ZOD free hologram. In the second approach, a piece of window glass inserted on the path of the object beam produces a constant phase shift. The subtraction of two holograms, one recorded with and one without window glass generates a new hologram whose numerical reconstruction is ZOD free. Theoretical models and experimental results are shown to validate our proposals. They show that the proposed methods totally remove the ZOD without ruining the object information.     

New azo-dye-doped polymer systems as dynamic holographic recording media

Polymer materials show their impact on optical storage technology for developing high information density and fast access-type memories with a high read-out efficiency. New azo-dye-doped polymer materials have been developed and used for recording dynamic holograms. Dynamic holograms with reasonably high diffraction efficiency have been recorded at 468 nm, and the efficiency of the Write, Read and Erase (WRE) cycle in these azo-dye-doped polymer materials was determined. Significant observations in these materials are: (i) there is no need to change the polarization of the writing beam to erase the recorded holograms, (ii) the whole WRE cycle is very fast (3–6 s) and (iii) recording of more than 250 WRE cycles without any fatigue of the recording materials is possible.     

Higher order harmonics suppression in extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray

The extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray sources are widely used in various domains. Suppressing higher order harmonics and improving spectral purity are significant. This paper describes a novel method of higher order harmonics suppression with single order diffraction gratings in extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray. The principle of harmonic suppression with single order diffraction grating is described, and an extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray non-harmonics grating monochromator is designed based on the single order diffraction grating. The performance is simulated by an optical design software. The emergent beams of a monochromator with different gratings are measured by a transmission grating spectrometer. The results show that the single order diffraction grating can suppress higher order harmonics effectively, and it is expected to be widely used in synchrotron radiation, diagnostics of laser induced plasma, and astrophysics.     

Holographic angle multiplexing combined with peristrophic multiplexing in a photorefractive LiNbO3 crystal

We have investigated angle multiplexing combined with peristrophic (rotational) multiplexing in a photorefractive LiNbO₃ crystal of cylindrical shape. The peristrophic multiplexing was achieved by rotating the recording medium while the angle multiplexing, by varying the incident angle of the reference beam. Angle multiplexing in synchronization with rotation of the sample made it possible to continuously record and retrieve holograms. In the combined multiplexing, holograms were stored at different peristrophic positions and thus their angular selectivity could be much improved in comparison to that of only angle-multiplexed holograms. The theoretical angular selectivity was derived, along with its dependence on the sample rotation. The experimentally measured selectivity was in agreement with the theoretical one. The angular selectivity of angle-multiplexed holograms was measured to be 0.03° in the absence of sample rotation and it became less than 0.0075° with a sample rotation by 5.4°.     

High-sensitivity read-write volume holographic storage in reduced KNbO3 crystals

Reduced KNbO₃ is a photoconductive ferroelectric in which holograms can be recorded by the photorefractive effect. Read-write volume hologram storage and erase sensitivities ofS ⁻¹=100 J/cm² andS ⁻¹=84 J/cm² (S=d(Δn)/d(I₀t)‖_t=0) have been measured at zero applied electric field, where the charge transport is shown to be due to diffusion of photoexcited electrons. By applying an electric field along thec-axis, the migration length of the photoexcited electrons becomes comparable to the holographic grating spacing. This leads to storage sensitivities comparable to high-resolution photographic plates. Experimental data on storage and erase sensitivity as a function of the grating spacing, applied electric field, writing light intensity and temperature are reported and interpreted on the basis of the theoretical results of Young et al. and Amodei. Changes of the intensity ratio of the writing beams by self diffraction (beam coupling), reflections from surfaces and the residual dark conductivity are assumed to cause experimental results which deviate from the theoretical models. It is shown, that in reduced KNbO₃ and other ferroelectric photoconductors having photocarrier transport lengths much larger than the unit cell dimension, photovoltaic currents do not contribute significantly to the build-up of space-charges leading to the photorefractive effect.     

Anomalous Behaviour of Photorefractive Grating Erasure Owing to Existence of both Negative and Positive Carriers

In LiNbO3：Fe, anomalous behaviour of grating erasure is observed with different wavelengths, i.e. rapid grating erasure in the short wavelength range, which deviates from the results predicted by the electron transport band model. The deviation is related to the coexistence of electrons and holes in photorefraction, and charge-transfer process including electrons and hole has been proposed. The electron and hole contributions to photoconductivity have been identified by experiments. We also give the theoretical dependence of electron photo-excitation coefficient S of the Fe centre on the wavelength.     

Incoherent recovering of the spatial resolution in digital holography

We report on a technique to recover the spatial resolution of digitally recorded and reconstructed holograms of large objects. Due to the high-contrast speckle noise diminishes the spatial resolution in coherent imaging systems our proposal is based on the reduction of the contrast of it. This aim is achieved through the superposition on an intensity basis of digitally reconstructed holograms of the same static scene. We show a theoretical justification of the procedure and experimentally-obtained results of applying the technique with digitally reconstructed holograms of an object with very poor optical contrast.     

Development of thermally fixed photorefractive holograms without light

Holographic gratings are recorded and thermally fixed in iron-doped photorefractive lithium-niobate crystals. A spatially modulated concentration of filled and empty electron traps (Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺) yields a modulated dark conductivity. As a consequence, dark diffusion currents and dark drift currents arise. Space–charge fields and electro-optic refractive-index changes build up. An additional refractive-index grating, which may originate from a modulated proton concentration, as well as a pronounced absorption grating arising from the modulated Fe²⁺ concentration are also observed. The dark development has practical advantages: thermally fixed holograms can be used in devices without the need to develop them freshly from time to time by illumination. Although with dark development diffraction efficiencies up to 50% are demonstrated, in general the efficiencies are smaller compared to those achieved by development with light. Received: 28 June 2000 / Published online: 8 November 2000     

Hologram multiplexing in acrylamide hydrophilic photopolymers

Unslanted diffraction gratings are recorded in a 900 μm thick acrylamide photopolymer by means of peristrophic multiplexing. A solid state Nd:YAG (λ = 532 nm) laser is used as the recording beam, with a total incident intensity of 5 mW/cm², and a He-Ne laser as the reconstruction beam. The dye concentration in the photopolymer is optimized so that it does not limit the dynamic range. Nine holograms are recorded using constant exposure time scheduling and variable exposure time scheduling. From the results obtained it may be deduced that optimization of the dye allows us to work in the linear response region of the photopolymer and at the same time obtain high values of diffraction efficiency for each hologram. An exponential increase in exposure time as the number of holograms increases enables the values of diffraction efficiency to be homogenized with regard to the case of constant exposure scheduling. In this way, better use is made of the dynamic range of acrylamide hydrophilic photopolymer.     

Multiple holographic transmission gratings in silver halide emulsion

Holograms, recorded in silver halide emulsion by a plane reference wave andN cylindrical object waves, are measured as a function of the replay beam angle both for sequential and simultaneous recording. A theoretical model, based on coupled-wave differential equations, is presented. Numerical results for theN=3 case are compared with experiments and good agreement is found. Cross-modulation effects caused by simultaneous recording are discussed and are shown to be detrimental to the fidelity of reproduction of the original object beams. The results are relevant to more general hologram configurations, e.g., display holograms.     

Determination of proton diffusion anisotropy by thermal decay of fixed holograms with K-vector perpendicular to the c-axis in LiNbO3:Fe

In this paper the thermal fixing of holographic gratings with K-vectors perpendicular to the crystallographic c-axis of LiNbO₃ is considered in order to obtain information about anisotropy of the proton thermal diffusion in this crystal. Specifically, thermal decays of fixed holograms in particular crystallographic directions are measured and related with proton diffusion. The values obtained are compared with previous data of decays of fixed holograms with K-vector parallel to the c-axis. The results show a high anisotropy of the thermal diffusion of protons in lithium niobate crystals.     

环形光栅光学扫描全息术的研究

为了充分利用光学扫描全息系统的分辨率,提出了用环形光栅扫描物体的光学扫描全是术。其优点是：可以用非相干光源记录扫描全息图,系统为单光路,从而可以提高系统的稳定性。阐明了环形光栅光学扫描全息术的基本原理,并给出了实验结果。