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The development and optimization of holographic materials represent a great challenge today. These materials must be synthesized according to the characteristics that are desirable in photonic devices whose application is the object of investigation. In certain holographic sensors and biosensors, it is essential that the recording material be stable in liquid media. Furthermore, the holographic gratings stored in them must have temporal and structural stability, so that they can act as transducers of the analytical signal. Therefore, it is essential to optimize its storage in terms of the chemical composition of the material and the optical parameters of recording. This work focuses on the study of the storage optimization of unslanted transmission volume phase holograms in photohydrogels based on acrylamide and N,N’-methylenebis(acrylamide). Hydrogel matrices, also composed of acrylamide and N,N’-methylenebis(acrylamide), with different degrees of cross-linking were used and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and UV–visible spectroscopy. The best results in terms of diffraction efficiency were reached for hydrogel matrices with an acrylamide/N,N’-methylenebis(acrylamide) molar ratio between 19.9 and 26. This relationship was also optimized in the incubator solution used to incorporate the components necessary for the formation of the holograms in the hydrogel matrices. The maximum diffraction efficiency, about 35%, was achieved when using an incubation solution with an acrylamide/N,N’-methylenebis(acrylamide) molar ratio of 4.35. The influence of the physical thickness of the hydrogel layers, the intensity, and the exposure time on the diffraction efficiency was also investigated and optimized. In addition, the behavior of the hologram was analyzed after a washing stage with PBST. A simple model that considered the effects of bending and attenuation of holographic gratings was proposed and used to obtain the optical parameters of the holograms.

Holography offers a vital platform for optical information storage and processing, which has a profound impact on many photonic applications, including 3D displays, LiDAR, optical encryption, and artificial intelligence. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of optical holography, moving from volume holography based on optically thick holograms to digital holography using ultrathin metasurface holograms in nanophotonics. We review the use of volume holograms for holographic multiplexing through the linear momentum selectivity and other approaches and highlight the emerging use of digital holograms that can be implemented by ultrathin metasurfaces. We will summarize the fabrication of different holographic recording media and digital holograms based on recent advances in flat meta-optics and nanotechnology. We highlight the rapidly developing field of metasurface holography, presenting the use of multi-functional metasurfaces for multiplexing holography in the use of polarization, wavelength, and incident angle of light. In the scope of holographic applications, we will focus on high bandwidth metasurface holograms that offer the strong sensitivity to the orbital angular momentum of light. At the end, we will provide a short summary of this review article and our perspectives on the future development of the vivid holography field.

Precise characterization of parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon microdisplays has an important impact in many advanced photonics applications. We show liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) modeled as a non-absorbent reciprocal device. Combined with time-average Stokes polarimetry, LCoS enables us to demonstrate robust measurements across the whole applied voltage range for the retardance and its flicker, and also as a novelty for the director orientation. We obtain that the director orientation changes across the voltage range, especially at larger applied voltages. This is a small effect, but it may provide a deeper insight into the internal dynamics in the liquid crystal layer, and in sensitive phase-only applications will produce a coupling between amplitude and phase.

Parallel-aligned (PA) liquid-crystal on silicon (LCoS) microdisplays are especially appealing in a wide range of spatial light modulation applications since they enable phase-only operation. Recently we proposed a novel polarimetric method, based on Stokes polarimetry, enabling the characterization of their linear retardance and the magnitude of their associated phase fluctuations or flicker, exhibited by many LCoS devices. In this work we apply the calibrated values obtained with this technique to show their capability to predict the performance of spatially varying phase multilevel elements displayed onto the PA–LCoS device. Specifically we address a series of multilevel phase blazed gratings. We analyze both their average diffraction efficiency (“static” analysis) and its associated time fluctuation (“dynamic” analysis). Two different electrical configuration files with different degrees of flicker are applied in order to evaluate the actual influence of flicker on the expected performance of the diffractive optical elements addressed. We obtain a good agreement between simulation and experiment, thus demonstrating the predictive capability of the calibration provided by the average Stokes polarimetric technique. Additionally, it is obtained that for electrical configurations with less than 30° amplitude for the flicker retardance, they may not influence the performance of the blazed gratings. In general, we demonstrate that the influence of flicker greatly diminishes when the number of quantization levels in the optical element increases.

A polarimetric method for the measurement of linear retardance in the presence of phase fluctuations is presented. This can be applied to electro-optic devices behaving as variable linear retarders. The method is based on an extended Mueller matrix model for the linear retarder containing the time-averaged effects of the instabilities. As a result, an averaged Stokes polarimetry technique is proposed to characterize both the retardance and its flicker magnitude. Predictive capability of the approach is experimentally demonstrated, validating the model and the calibration technique. The approach is applied to liquid crystal on silicon displays (LCoS) using a commercial Stokes polarimeter. Both the magnitude of the average retardance and the amplitude of its fluctuation are obtained for each gray level value addressed, thus enabling a complete phase characterization of the LCoS.

Holographic reflection gratings were stored in a PVA/AA based photopolymer material using symmetrical geometry. Diffraction efficiency of the gratings was measured and a curing process was applied in the gratings to fix them. The aim of this paper is to analyze the stability of stored gratings with over time, after to apply the curing process, comparing the results obtained with and without curing.

This paper presents a new approach for solving accurate approximate analytical solutions for nonlinear phenomena governed by pendulum-like differential equations. The new approach couples Taylor series expansion with rational harmonic balancing. An approximate rational solution depending on a small parameter is considered. After substituting the approximate solution into the governing differential equation, this equation is expanded in Taylor series of the parameter prior to harmonic balancing. The approach gives a cubic equation, which must be solved in order to obtain the value of the small parameter. A method for transforming this cubic equation into a linear equation is presented and discussed. Using this approach, accurate approximate analytical expressions for period and periodic solutions are obtained. We also compared the Fourier series expansions of the analytical approximate solution and the exact one. This allowed us to compare the coefficients for the different harmonic terms in these solutions. These analytical approximations may be of interest for those researchers working in nonlinear physical phenomena governed by pendulum-like differential equations in fields such as classical mechanics, vibrations, acoustics, electromagnetism, electronics, superconductivity, optics, gravitation, and others

High-spatial-frequency fringes associated with reflection holographic optical elements are difficult to obtain with currently available recording materials. In this work, holographic reflection gratings were stored in a polyvinyl alcohol/acrylamide photopolymer. This material is formed of acrylamide photopolymer, which is considered interesting material for optical storage applications such as holographic memories. The experimental procedure for examining the high-spatial-frequency response of this material is explained, and the experimental results obtained are presented. With the aim of obtaining the best results, the performance of different material compositions is compared.

Photopolymers are appealing materials for the fabrication of diffractive optical elements (DOEs). We evaluate the possibilities of polyvinyl-alcohol/acrylamide-based photopolymers to store diffractive elements with low spatial frequencies. We record gratings with different spatial frequencies in the material and analyze the material behavior measuring the transmitted and the reflected orders as a function of exposition. We study two different compositions for the photopolymer, with and without a cross-linker. The values of diffraction efficiency achieved for both compositions make the material suitable to record DOEs with long spatial periods. Assuming a Fermi-Dirac-function-based profile, we fitted the diffracted intensities (up to the eighth order) to obtain the phase profile of the recorded gratings. This analysis shows that it is possible to achieve a phase shift larger than 2π rad with steep edges in the periodic phase profile. In the case of the measurements in reflection, we have obtained information dealing with the surface profile, which show that it has a smooth shape with an extremely large phase-modulation depth.

He’s homotopy perturbation method is adapted to calculate higher-order approximate periodic solutions of conservative nonlinear oscillators for which the elastic force term is an odd nonlinear function. The method is modified by truncating the infinite series corresponding to the first-order approximate solution before introducing this solution in the second-order linear differential equation, and so on. With carefully constructed iterations, only a few iterations can provide very accurate analytical approximate solutions. An example is presented to illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the proposed technique, and comparison of the results obtained using this method with those obtained using other techniques reveals that the former is very effective and convenient.

Holographic data pages were multiplexed in different thickness layers of a polyvinyl alcohol/acrylamide photopolymer. This material is formed of acrylamide photopolymers, which are considered interesting materials for recording holographic memories. A liquid crystal device was used to modify the object beam and store the data pages. A peristrophic multiplexing method is used to store a large number of data pages in the same spot in the material. The bit error rate was calculated fitting the histograms of the images to determine what parameters improve the quality of the images.

One of the problems associated with photopolymers as optical recording media is the thickness variation during the recording process. Different values of shrinkages or swelling are reported in the literature for photopolymers. Furthermore, these variations depend on the spatial frequencies of the gratings stored in the materials. Thickness variations can be measured using different methods: studying the deviation from the Bragg's angle for nonslanted gratings, using MicroXAM S/N 8038 interferometer, or by the thermomechanical analysis experiments. In a previous paper, we began the characterization of the properties of a polyvinyl alcohol/acrylamide based photopolymer at the lowest end of recorded spatial frequencies. In this work, we continue analyzing the thickness variations of these materials using a reflection interferometer. With this technique we are able to obtain the variations of the layers refractive index and, therefore, a direct estimation of the polymer refractive index.

Two different types of multiplexing are used to store 90 holograms at the same location in a polyvinyl alcoholacrylamide photopolymer material. In the first, the 90 holograms are stored using only peristrophic multiplexing, whereas in the second a combination of angular and peristrophic multiplexing is used. The results (diffraction efficiency and dynamic range, M#) obtained with these two multiplexing techniques are compared. With the first, the dynamic range was M# = 13 and with the second M# = 8. An exposure schedule method is used to calculate the exposure time necessary to store the holograms with a more uniform, higher diffraction efficiency.

The capability of polyvinyl alcohol-acrylamide photopolymer materials to obtain angularly multiplexed holographic gratings has been demonstrated [Appl. Phys. B 76, 851 (2003)]. A combination of two multiplexing methods--peristrophic and angular multiplexing--is used to record 60 holograms. An exposure schedule method is used to optimize the capability of the photopolymerizable holographic material and obtain holograms with a higher, more uniform diffraction efficiency. In addition, because of this exposure schedule method, the entire dynamic range (M#) of the material will be exploited, obtaining values of approximately M#∼9 in layers approximately 800 μm thick.

Several theoretical models have been proposed to predict the behavior of photopolymers as holographic recording materials. Basically these models have been applied to study thin layers (around 100 μm thick). The increasing importance of holographic memories recorded in photopolymers (thickness of >500 μm) makes it necessary to extend the ideas proposed by these models to study thick photopolymer layers. We calculate the temporal evolution of the diffraction efficiencies for thick layers using a first-harmonic diffusion model, and the results obtained are compared with the corresponding values for thin layers. Furthermore, the values of the average diffusivity of the polymer chains after the grating is formed are also obtained. In general, we find that the monomer and polymer diffusivity increases when higher values of thickness are used.

Photopolymers are interesting materials for use in recording information in holography. We study the holographic behavior and stability of volume holograms recorded in poly(vinyl alcohol)–acrylamide photopolymers with and without a cross linker. Using a first-harmonic diffusion model, we analyze the residual monomer that remains when volume diffraction gratings are recorded in photopolymer materials. The importance of this residual monomer to the stability of the gratings is evaluated.

The photopolymerization diffusion models give accurate comprehension of the mechanism of hologram formation inside photopolymer materials. Although several models have been proposed, these models share the common assumption that there is an interplay between the processes of monomer polymerization and monomer diffusion. Nevertheless, most of the studies to check the validity of the theoretical models have been done by using photopolymers of the DuPont [TM] type, or photopolymer materials with values of the monomer diffusion time similar to those of the DuPont material. We check the applicability of a modified diffusion-based model to a polyvinyl alcohol-acrylamide photopolymer. This material has the property of longer diffusion times for the monomer to travel from the unexposed to the exposed zones than in the case of other polymeric materials. Some interesting effects are observed and theoretically treated by using the modified first-harmonic diffusion-based model we propose.

The photopolymerization diffusion models give accurate comprehension of the mechanism of hologram formation inside photopolymer materials. Although several models have been proposed, these models share the common assumption that there is an interplay between the processes of monomer polymerization and monomer diffusion. Nevertheless, most of the studies to check the validity of the theoretical models have been done by using photopolymers of the DuPont™ type, or photopolymer materials with values of the monomer diffusion time similar to those of the DuPont material. We check the applicability of a modified diffusion-based model to a polyvinyl alcohol–acrylamide photopolymer. This material has the property of longer diffusion times for the monomer to travel from the unexposed to the exposed zones than in the case of other polymeric materials. Some interesting effects are observed and theoretically treated by using the modified first-harmonic diffusion-based model we propose.

Photographic emulsions are still widely used to record holographic optical elements. In particular, if high diffraction efficiencies are needed, phase volume holograms are preferably recorded on these emulsions. Two particular techniques producing high-quality volume phase holograms are fixation-free rehalogenating bleaching and the use of silver-halide-sensitized gelatin. In this work we compare these two particular techniques applied to three different red-sensitive emulsions: Agfa 8E75 HD, BB-640, and Slavich PFG-01 emulsions. The differences between these emulsions determine the particular experimental conditions needed to record high-quality volume holograms on them. In this work these differences are analysed, and also their influence on the experimental procedure.

A method to determine the refractive index and thickness of silver halide emulsions used in holography is presented. The emulsions are in the form of a layer of film deposited on a thick glass plate. The experimental reflectances of p-polarized light are measured as a function of the incident angles, and the values of refractive index, thickness, and extinction coefficient of the emulsion are obtained by using the theoretical equation for reflectance. As examples, five commercial holographic silver halide emulsions are analyzed. The procedure to obtain the measurements and the numerical analysis of the experimental data are simple, and agreement of the calculated reflectances, by use of the thickness and refractive index obtained, with the measured reflectances is satisfactory.

The mechanism of hologram formation in fixation-free rehalogenating bleaching processes have been treated by different authors. The experiments carried out on Agfa 8E75 HD plates led to the conclusion that material transfer from the exposed to the unexposed zones is the main mechanism under the process. We present a simple model that explains the mechanism of hologram formation inside the emulsion. Also quantitative data obtained using both Agfa 8E75 HD and Slavich PFG-01 fine-grained red-sensitive emulsions are given and good agreement between theory and experiments are found.

The mechanism for hologram formation by fixation-free rehalogenating bleaching has been treated by several authors. Experiments carried out with Kodak and Agfa photographic plates have led to the conclusion that the transfer of material from the exposed to the unexposed zones is the main mechanism that drives the process. We show that when BB-640 emulsion is used in the recording of holograms by means of fixation-free rehalogenating bleaching, the mechanism for the transfer of material from exposed to unexposed zones is efficient enough to create high refractive-index modulations. We also comment on the overmodulation effects, which result in a decrease in diffraction efficiency.

Silver halide sensitized gelatin (SHSG) is one of the most interesting techniques for the production of holographic optical elements, achieving relatively high sensitivity of photographic material with a low scattering of dichromated gelatin. Here we present experimental results for SHSG derived from the novel BB-640, a red-sensitive ultra-fine-grain emulsion from Holographic Recording Technologies (Steinau, Germany). The material is characterized before recording and after processing, and information about the thickness, absorption, and refractive-index modulation of the final holograms is obtained. The influence of the developer is analyzed, and diffraction efficiencies as great as 96.2% (after allowing for reflections) with a transmission of 1% and absorption and scatter losses of 2.8% are obtained with AAC developer. Our investigations reveal that high-quality SHSG transmission holograms may be obtained with the new BB-640 plates.

The quantum efficiency and the molar-absorption coefficients of different phenothiazine dyes are obtained by means of fitting the experimental data of transmittance as a function of time. An analytical expression for the intensity transmitted in a photopolymerizable holographic material is obtained, and good agreement between theory and experience is also achieved. The analysis of these parameters is of fundamental quantities in the photochemical characterization of holographic recording materials.

We show an accurate procedure to obtain a Fourier transform (FT) with no dc term using a commercial twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display. We focus on the application to holographic storage of binary data pages, where a drastic decrease of the dc term in the FT is highly desirable. Two different codification schemes are considered: binary π radians phase modulation and hybrid ternary modulation. Any deviation in the values of the amplitude and phase shift generates the appearance of a strong dc term. Experimental results confirm that the calculated configurations provide a FT with no dc term, thus showing the effectiveness of the proposal.

We demonstrate edge-enhanced imaging produced by volume phase gratings recorded on a polyvinyl alcohol/acrylamide photopolymer. Bragg diffraction, exhibited by volume gratings, modifies the impulse response of the imaging system, facilitating spatial filtering operations with no need for a physical Fourier plane. We demonstrate that Kogelnik’s coupled-wave theory can be used to calculate the transfer function for the transmitted and the diffracted orders. The experimental and simulated results agree, and they demonstrate the feasibility of our proposal.