Diffraction behaviors of new photopolymers containing the dendritic molecule

Photopolymers are attractive materials for holographic 3-D data storage because of their high photosensitivity and large refractive index modulation. We synthesized the six-armed dendrimer for fabricating the new photopolymer. It was prepared using the initiating mixture of hexaarylbiimidazole (HABI), mercapto-benzoxazole (MOBZ), and 2,6-bis(4-diethylaminobenzylidene) cyclopentanone (DEAW), which is sensitive to 514 nm wavelength. The holographic gratings were fabricated successfully in these photopolymer samples by conventional optical interference method. We investigated the effect of dendrimer, either as a binder or as a plasticizer in the cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), on the diffraction behavior. The addition of only 1 wt% of dendrimer-I into the CAB significantly increased the diffraction efficiency. The sample doped with dendrimer showed around 80-83% of the diffraction efficiency.