Holographic optical elements recorded in silver halide sensitized gelatin emulsions. Part 2. Reflection holographic optical elements

Silver halide sensitized gelatin (SHSG) holograms are similar to holograms recorded in dichromated gelatin (DCG), the main recording material for holographic optical elements (HOEs). The drawback of DCG is its low energetic sensitivity and limited spectral response. Silver halide materials can be processed in such away that the final hologram will have properties like a DCG hologram. Recently this technique has become more interesting since the introduction of new ultra-fine-grain silver halide (AgHal) emulsions. In particular, high spatial-frequency fringes associated with HOEs of the reflection type are difficult to construct when SHSG processing methods are employed. Therefore an optimized processing technique for reflection HOEs recorded in the new AgHal materials is introduced. Diffraction efficiencies over 90% can be obtained repeatably for reflection diffraction gratings. Understanding the importance of a selective hardening process has made it possible to obtain results similar to conventional DCG processing. The main advantage of the SHSG process is that high-sensitivity recording can be performed with laser wavelengths anywhere within the visible spectrum. This simplifies the manufacturing of high-quality, large-format HOEs, also including high-quality display holograms of the reflection type in both monochrome and full color.     

Holographic diffuser by use of a silver halide sensitized gelatin process

Diffusers play an important role in liquid crystal display (LCD) application as a beam-shaping device, a brightness homogenizer, a light-Scattering device, and an imaging screen. The transmittance and diffusing angle of the diffusers are the critical aspects for the applications to the LCD. The holographic diffusers by use of various processing methods have been investigated. The diffusing characteristics of different diffusing materials and processing methods have been evaluated and compared. The microstructures of holographic diffuse have been investigated by use of using scanning electron microscopy. The holographic diffusers by use of the silver halide sensitized gelatin (SHSG) method have the structural merits for the improvement of the quality of diffusers. The features of holographic diffuser were exceptional in terms of transmittance and diffusing angle. The replication method by use of the SHSG process can be directly used for the manufacturing of diffusers for the display application.     

Silver halide sensitized gelatin process effects in holographic lenses recorded on Slavich PFG-01 plates

In this work we study the feasibility of using silver halide sensitized gelatin based on PFG-01 (Slavich) emulsions to construct uniaxial compound lenses. This processing is able to introduce variations in the thickness and refractive index of the emulsion. We prove that these changes are not sufficient to provide the observed variations in Bragg conditions in the reconstruction and that a shear-type effect must exist to explain the performance of processed emulsions. We study the characteristics of a compound lens, obtaining acceptable image quality, good resolution, and the typical field limitation of volume holographic elements.     

Silver halide sensitized gelatin derived from BB-640 holographic emulsion

Silver halide sensitized gelatin (SHSG) is one of the most interesting techniques for the production of holographic optical elements, achieving relatively high sensitivity of photographic material with a low scattering of dichromated gelatin. Here we present experimental results for SHSG derived from the novel BB-640, a red-sensitive ultra-fine-grain emulsion from Holographic Recording Technologies (Steinau, Germany). The material is characterized before recording and after processing, and information about the thickness, absorption, and refractive-index modulation of the final holograms is obtained. The influence of the developer is analyzed, and diffraction efficiencies as great as 96.2% (after allowing for reflections) with a transmission of 1% and absorption and scatter losses of 2.8% are obtained with AAC developer. Our investigations reveal that high-quality SHSG transmission holograms may be obtained with the new BB-640 plates.     

Holographic optical elements recorded on spherical surfaces with photopolymers

A method for recording of holograms on spherical substrates is presented. As recording material we used a photopolymer placed between two spherical glass plates that are concentric.     

Hybrid process of latent image formation in silver halide sensitized gelatin: differential hardening with microvoids

Renewed interest has been shown in the hybrid silver halide sensitized gelatin processes owing to the appearance of new photographic materials. In this study we show the possible compatibility between the models of latent image formation proposed prior to the existence of these new materials, bearing in mind that the refractive-index modulation and its curve of spectral response should be the figures of merit for optimization of the processes of transmission and reflection hologram formation.     

Silver halide sensitized gelatin holograms in Slavich PFG-01 red-sensitive emulsion

Abstract

Silver halide sensitized gelatin (SHSG) is an interesting technique for the production of holographic optical elements. It combines the high sensitivity of photographic emulsions with the well-known low scattering and high diffraction efficiency corresponding to dichromated gelatin. In this paper we describe SHSG holograms recorded on Slavich PFG-01 emulsions. We will show that real high diffraction efficiencies can be obtained (as high as 93% allowing for reflections) when using this material for recording phase transmission holograms. The influence of the bleach bath temperature and a hardening bath in the processing was studied and the procedure was optimized for these two parameters. Our investigations reveal that PFG-01 emulsion is not only a substitute for Agfa material, but also offers better results, at a moment in which Agfa has stopped its production of holographic material.     

Reflection and transmission properties of holographic mirrors and holographic Fabry-Perot filters. I. Holographic mirrors with monochromatic light

The reflection and transmission coefficients of holographic mirrors (HM's) and holographic Fabry-Perot filters (HFPF's) are studied. The diffraction efficiencies, the angular selectivities, and the wavelength sensitivities of HM's and HFPF's and their effects on the spectrum and on the coherence properties of the incident light are investigated. The results show that holographic techniques can indeed be used to construct high-quality reflecting mirrors and Fabry-Perot filters. HM's illuminated by a monochromatic plane wave are investigated in detail. The reflection and transmission coefficients are first studied as functions of frequency (wavelength) of the incident light and also as functions of the angle of incidence. It is shown that HM's can be used as highly reflecting mirrors around their Bragg angle of incidences. Their reflectivity curves have fairly wide angular- and frequency-selectivity ranges.     

Dynamic holography for optical interconnections. I. Noise floor of low-cross-talk holographic switches

Reconfigurable optical interconnects constructed by recording dynamic holograms onto spatial light modulators may be crucial elements in all-optical networks. The extremely low cross-talk level of such free-space holographic switches was shown by an analytic approximation and verified experimentally. The fiber-to-fiber switch utilizes the spatial filtering properties of single-mode fibers, and its cross-talk noise is limited to the sidelobe power as a result of diffraction of the clipped Gaussian beam at the hologram aperture edges, provided that all higher orders are avoided. Greater than 45-dB cross-talk isolation has been measured at transverse-axis locations, and locating a fiber port at off-transverse-axis directions promises to double this level if aberrations are negligible.     

Diffuse-object holograms in silver halide emulsions: influence of the beam ratio on the efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio

The influence of the beam ratio between reference and object beam intensities on the characteristics of diffuse-object holograms recorded as volume phase holograms in bleached silver halide emulsion is experimentally analyzed. Measurements of the diffraction efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio of the holograms are taken. The experimental results presented show that when the beam ratio increases, the diffraction efficiency decreases and the signal-to-noise ratio increases; these two holographic parameters behave in this way no matter what type of processing is used.     

Extinction and the optical theorem. Part I. Single particles

We study the extinction caused by a single particle and present a conceptual phase-based explanation for the related optical theorem. Simulations of the energy flow caused by a particle's presence in a collimated beam of light demonstrate how the extinction process occurs. It is shown that extinction does not necessarily cause a reduction of the energy flow along the exact forward direction. Implications regarding the measurement of the single-particle extinction cross section are discussed. This work is extended to noninteracting and interacting multiparticle groups in Part II [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A25, pp. 1514 (2008)].     

Virtual optical experiments. Part I. Modeling the measurement process

In recent years, internal laser probing techniques that exploit the electro-optical and the thermo-optical effects have been introduced. Space-resolved and time-resolved measurements of charge-carrier and temperature distributions in the interior of semiconductor samples have thus become possible. For a profound analysis and the optimization of these measurement techniques, a physically rigorous model for simulating the entire measurement process is presented. The model includes the electrothermal device simulation of the sample's operating condition, the calculation of the resulting refractive-index modulations, the simulation of wave propagation through the device under test, the imaging lenses and aperture holes, and the simulation of the detector response. As an essential part of this model, a numerically efficient algorithm for simulating wave propagation in large computational domains has been developed. The decisive step is introduction of a suitably chosen set of computational variables that allows a significantly coarser discretization width without loss of accuracy.     

Speckle suppression in holographic projection displays using temporal integration of speckle images from diffractive optical elements

Speckles on images in holographic projection displays (HPDs) were efficiently suppressed by the temporal sum of two diffractive images generated from diffractive optical elements (DOEs). Using a modified iterative Fourier transform algorithm, we obtained pairs of phase-only DOEs that generated the diffractive images with high negative correlation coefficients of -0.827 and -0.490 in the one-dimensional and the two-dimensional simulations, respectively. The suppression ratios of the speckles in the two simulations were 0.301 and 0.457, which were 61% and 35% lower, respectively, than the sum of the two uncorrelated images. We have successfully demonstrated that the sum of two negatively correlated images from DOEs can effectively reduce the image speckles and improve the image quality in HPD systems.     

Near-IR absorption in high-purity photothermorefractive glass and holographic optical elements: measurement and application for high-energy lasers

Volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) in photothermorefractive (PTR) glass are widely used for laser beam control including high-power laser systems. Among them, spectral beam combining based on VBGs is one of the most promising. Achieving 100+ kW of combined laser beams requires the development of PTR glass and VBGs with an extremely low absorption coefficient and therefore methods of its measurement. This paper describes the calorimetric method that was developed for measuring a low absorption coefficient in PTR glass and VBGs. It is based on transmission monitoring of the intrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer produced by the plane-parallel surfaces of the measured optical elements when heated by high-power laser radiation. An absorption coefficient at 1085 nm as low as 5×10(-5) cm(-1) is demonstrated in pristine PTR glass while an absorption coefficient as low as 1×10(-4) cm(-1) is measured in high-efficiency reflecting Bragg gratings with highest purity. The actual level of absorption in PTR glass allows laser beam control at the 10 kW level, while the 100 kW level would require active cooling and/or decreasing the absorption in PTR Bragg gratings to a value similar to that in virgin PTR glass.     

Holographic optical elements in the presence of spherical aberration and focus error: Some remarks on imaging quality

Abstract

When aberrations are small, it is possible to use wave aberration variance to obtain the position of the best image plane in both conventional and holographic optical systems. However, when aberrations increase, this measurement is not sufficient and it does not provide the correct plane position for the best image. In this paper, two alternative methods for evaluating image quality in spherically aberrated on-axis holographic lenses are compared. These two methods are the standard deviation of the distribution of light intensity and entropy. Both methods are based on the calculation of the diffraction integral and the subsequent analysis of the distribution of light intensity as a probability density function for each image plane being analysed. Even though the results obtained with both methods are identical when aberrations are small, only entropy provides the best image when the value of these aberrations increases.     

Phase transitions in elements and compounds. Part 3

There is shown to be good agreement for certain systems between the optical and thermodynamic parameters characterizing collective phenomena: laser emission and phase transition.Translated from Izhenerno-Fizicheskli Zhurnal, Vol. 50, No. 6, pp. 1005–1007, June, 1986.     

Magneto-optical disk drive technology using multiple fiber-coupled flying optical heads. Part I. System design and performance

A novel flying-optical-head data storage technology is described. It is based on a micro-optical recording head that contains a silicon micromachined torsional mirror for high-bandwidth track following. Multiple heads and disks are contained in a Winchester-style rotating disk drive. Single-mode optical fibers provide light delivery to and from the heads. Both polarization-maintaining and low-birefringence fiber systems have been implemented for magneto-optical (MO) recording. A fixed optics module containing a laser diode, MO detection optics, and a 1 x N fiber bundle switch has been developed as an integral part of this new recording architecture. A 5.25-in. (13.33-cm), half-height prototype drive design and its performance are presented.