Diacetone acrylamide-based non-toxic holographic photopolymer

A new low-toxicity diacetone acrylamide-based photopolymer is developed and characterized. The environmentally-compatible photopolymer has been modified with the inclusion of glycerol. The incorporation of glycerol results in a uniform maximum refractive index modulation for recording intensities in the range of 1-20 mW/cm2. This may be attributed to glycerol’s nature as a plasticizer, which allows for faster diffusion of un-reacted monomer within the grating during holographic recording. An optimum recording intensity of 0.5 mW/cm2 is observed for exposure energies of 20-60 mW/cm2. The modified photopolymer achieves a refractive index modulation of 2.2x10-3, with diffraction efficiencies up to 90 % in 100 µm layers. The photopolymer layers containing glycerol have improved stability and optical quality