Holographic recording using visible-light sensitive polymers based on cationic polycondensation

Negative-working photopolymers based on a cationic polycondensation mechanism were developed. The photopolymers are highly sensitive to 488 nm argon ion laser light, because they use a chemically amplified reaction and are not sensitive to ambient oxygen. These photopolymers are composed of a poly(p-hydroxystyrene) matrix, a hexamethoxy methylmelamine crosslinker and a 2,4,6-tris(trichloromethyl)-1,3,5-triazine–coumarin dye combination as a photo-initiator. They exhibit 0.6 mJ/cm² (D^0.7_g) sensitivity to 488 nm light, as well as a high resolution of 0.5 μm. Due to their high sensitivity and high resolution, a relief-type hologram, larger than 50 × 50 cm, can be recorded in a short exposure time using them.