The temperature effect of holographic recording in phenanthrenequinone- doped poly(methyl methacrylate) materials

Phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) (PQ/PMMA) material is considered as one of the ideal optical memory polymer for its negligible volume shrinkage and optional shape. Samples were prepared by modifying the polymerization methods of PQ/PMMA materials in different temperatures and the diffraction efficiency of two-wave mixing was improved. During grating recording process, the maximal diffraction efficiency decreases with temperature increasing in the high-temperature-polymerized sample. For the low-temperature-polymerized sample, the maximal diffraction efficiency increases with temperature increasing at some ranges, and then decreases. Moreover, after the grating set-up, a thermal treatment process caused the diffraction efficiency of the low-temperature-polymerized sample to increase but to decrease for the high-temperature-polymerized sample. The diffusion equation was used to explain the interaction dynamics during the thermal treatment process.