A photopolymerizable glass with diffraction efficiency near 100% for holographic storage

Permanent holographic storage has been demonstrated in a photopolymerizable organically modified silica glass. The glass was prepared by dispersing a titanocene photoinitiator and a high refractive index acrylic monomer in a porous silica matrix. This glass exhibits unprecedented sensitivity and refractive index change upon a moderate exposure to green light and can be fabricated in thickness up to several millimeters. A photopolymerizable storage medium of such a thickness with good holographic properties is needed for practical holographic storage devices. Lack of such medium has been considered the main obstacle in development of write-once holographic memories. In our glass, we have stored permanent volume holograms of diffraction efficiency approaching 100% and refractive index modulation up to 4.5 x 10(-3), making this photopolymerizable material suitable for use in holographic data storage. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.