Enhancement of photochemical response in bulk poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer dispersed organometallic compound

The enhancement of photochemical response is investigated in Zinc methylacrylate organometallic compound and phenathrenequinone doped poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer experimentally and theoretically. In experiments, the improvement in photosensitivity due to ZnMA compound is presented quantitatively. The dynamics parameters, quantum yield and initiation rate of PQ molecules, are determined by nonlinear fitting the experimental curves. The theoretical model with nonlocal effect is proposed to explain the contribution of actual chemical process to the enhancement of photochemical response. The comparison of theoretical and experimental results is finally described. Two significant roles of ZnMA compound, as a catalyst to accelerate the photochemical reaction and as a reactant to participate in the photoattachment with PQ molecules, are demonstrated quantitatively. The time constant of grating formation 20.9 s and the photosensitivity 2.3×10⁻⁵ cm²/J are experimentally obtained in an optimized 0.1 wt% ZnMA doped PQ-PMMA sample. This study contributes the physical mechanism for improvement of photosensitivity and provides significant theoretical foundation for advance the properties of materials in holographic memory.