Order-of-magnitude polymerization-shrinkage suppression of volume gratings recorded in nanoparticle-polymer composites

We demonstrate substantial shrinkage suppression of nanoparticle-polymer composite transmission gratings by use of the step-growth polymerization mechanism. It is shown that the polymerization shrinkage can be reduced as low as 0.3% at the nanoparticle concentration of 35 vol. % by which the refractive index modulation and the material sensitivity are maximized to be 8 x 10(-3) and 1014 cm/J, respectively, in the green. Our results offer a noticeable advance in the development of holographic data storage materials. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America