Highly transparent ZrO2 nanoparticle-dispersed acrylate photopolymers for volume holographic recording

We demonstrate and characterize volume holographic recording in ZrO2 nanoparticle-dispersed acrylate photopolymer films that have very low scattering loss. More than thirty-fold reduction in the scattering coefficient, as compared with those of previously reported TiO2 nanoparticle-dispersed photopolymers, is achieved. It is shown that the refractive index modulation as high as 5.3 x 10(-3), together with substantive photopolymerization-shrinkage suppression, is obtained at the nanoparticle concentration of 15 vol.%. Dependences of nanoparticle concentration and grating spacing on the refractive index modulation are also investigated. (C) 2006 Optical Society of America.