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6666772 
Journal Article 
Near-infrared photorefractive polymer composites with high diffraction efficiency and fast response time 
Thomas, J; Eralp, M; Tay, S; Li, GG; Marder, , SR; Meredith, G; Schulzgen, A; Norwood, RA; Peyghambarian, N; , 
2004 
SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING 
BELLINGHAM 
1-8 
WOS:000225562900001 
We describe the material characteristics and photorefractive properties of novel tetraphenyldiaminobiphenyl (TPD) based polymer composites that were developed for operation wavelengths up to 1 micron. With an optimized composite, we demonstrated more than 50% external diffraction efficiency coupled with a fast response time of about 35 ms at 980 nm. In addition to this high performing composite, we have developed a composite with high two beam coupling gain (300 cm(-1)). To accomplish these attractive photorefractive properties in the near-infrared, we explored the chemical flexibility of the guest-host approach. We employed a new dye with enhanced near-infrared absorption to extend the sensitivity into this long wavelength range. Styrene-based chromophores were utilized to enable high refractive index modulation. We explored ellipsometry as well as photo-conductivity measurements to optimize the composition of the composites. In addition to the composites that contain a single chromophore species, we also analyzed samples prepared with a mixture of chromophores. Our studies reveal the potential of this new polymer-composite family to extend the operation wavelength of the photorefractive materials to even longer wavelengths. Attractive photorefractive properties coupled with long wavelength sensitivity make these materials potential candidates for imaging and communication applications. 
Meerholz, K; 
0-8194-5459-1 
Conference on Organic Holographic Materials and Applications II 
Denver, CO