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Polymers
Special Issues
Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications
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Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2022) | Viewed by 10925

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Inmaculada Pascual

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Instituto Universitario de Física Aplicada a las Ciencias y las Tecnologías, Universidad de Alicante, 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain
Interests: photopolymers; holography; biopolymers; h-pdlc; liquid crystal polymers; light-sensitive materials; nanocomposites; holographic memories; holographic sensors; diffractive and holographic optical elements
Dr. Manuel G. Ramirez

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Apartado 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain
Interests: photopolymers; hydrogels; eco-friendly materials; holography; biopolymers; light-sensitive materials; nanocomposites; holographic memories; holographic sensors; diffractive and holographic optical elements
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Photopolymer materials are specific materials for different optical applications. At present, optics and photonic applications such as sensors, holographic memories, solar concentrators, and optical elements are undergoing rapid development. These applications are increasing their complexity and need materials with new features, such as low toxicity, the ability to interact with specific molecules or analytes, materials doped with nanoparticles, and so on.

This Special Issue focuses on the development, characterization, and applications of photopolymer materials for optical and photonic applications. Material topics addressed will include the development of new media as well as performance, characterization, and optimization. The techniques explored will include the fabrication of holographic optical elements, surface relief, and volume element fabrication. Papers describing the manufacture and application of photopolymers and other photosensitive materials in sensors to produce nanostructures or holography applications will be included. Both original contributions and technical review papers are welcome.  

Prof. Dr. Inmaculada Pascual
Dr. Manuel G. Ramirez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Photopolymers
  • Holographic optical elements
  • Low-toxicity materials
  • Holographic sensors
  • Nanoparticles

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 2531 KiB  
Article
Influence of Pre-Exposure on the Material Response of Epoxy-Based Volume Holographic Recording Material
by Tina Sabel-Grau
Polymers 2022, 14(11), 2193; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14112193 - 28 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1155
Abstract
The formation of volume holograms in photosensitive polymers is a complex process under the influence of many interacting factors: material composition and processing, exposure conditions, and pre-exposure affect the development and final characteristics of holographic gratings. In order to better understand the interplay [...] Read more.
The formation of volume holograms in photosensitive polymers is a complex process under the influence of many interacting factors: material composition and processing, exposure conditions, and pre-exposure affect the development and final characteristics of holographic gratings. In order to better understand the interplay of these influencing factors, the detailed investigations of holographic recording in a new organic material are performed and the results are presented here. The material response and performance of an epoxy-based free surface material designed for volume holography are investigated. For this purpose, time-resolved investigation of volume holographic grating growth is performed on the one hand. Spatially resolved analysis of volume holographic phase gratings by point-by-point scanning of the local material response to the Gaussian intensity distribution of the recording beams is carried out on the other hand. Thus, the influence of pre-exposure on the temporal grating formation, as well as on the final obtained refractive index contrast, was determined. The various effects observed can be explained by the consumption of photosensitive compounds and prior crosslinking in the course of pre-exposure. Rather unexpected effects are that, on the one hand, pre-exposed gratings emerge with ever more complete null diffraction at the transition point and, on the other hand, a stabilizing effect of some degree of pre-exposure on regions exposed with low intensity was identified. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications)
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14 pages, 2940 KiB  
Article
N,N′-Bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-dyphenylbenzidine Based Distributed Feedback Lasers with Holographically Fabricated Polymeric Resonators
by Víctor Bonal, José A. Quintana, José M. Villalvilla, Pedro G. Boj, Rafael Muñoz-Mármol, Jose C. Mira-Martínez and María A. Díaz-García
Polymers 2021, 13(21), 3843; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13213843 - 06 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1671
Abstract
The molecule N,N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-dyphenylbenzidine (TPD) has been widely used in optoelectronic applications, mainly for its hole-transporting properties, but also for its capability to emit blue light and amplified spontaneous emission, which is important for the development of organic lasers. Here, we [...] Read more.
The molecule N,N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-dyphenylbenzidine (TPD) has been widely used in optoelectronic applications, mainly for its hole-transporting properties, but also for its capability to emit blue light and amplified spontaneous emission, which is important for the development of organic lasers. Here, we report deep-blue-emitting distributed feedback (DFB) lasers based on TPD dispersed in polystyrene (PS), as active media, and dichromated gelatin layers with holographically engraved relief gratings, as laser resonators. The effect of the device architecture (with the resonator located below or on top of the active layer) is investigated with a dye (TPD) that can be doped into PS at higher rates (up to 60 wt%), than with previously used dyes (<5 wt%). This has enabled changing the index contrast between film and resonator, which has an important effect on the laser performance. With regards to thresholds, both architectures behave similarly for TPD concentrations above 20 wt%, while for lower concentrations, top-layer resonator devices show lower values (around half). Remarkably, the operational durability of top-layer resonator devices is larger (in a factor of around 2), independently of the TPD concentration. This is a consequence of the protection offered by the resonator against dye photo-oxidation when the device is illuminated with pulsed UV light. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications)
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9 pages, 3919 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Bandwidth Broadening of Infrared Reflector Based on Polymer Stabilized Cholesteric Liquid Crystals with Poly(N-vinylcarbazole) Used as Alignment Layer
by Limin Zhang, Qiumei Nie, Xiao-Fang Jiang, Wei Zhao, Xiaowen Hu, Lingling Shui and Guofu Zhou
Polymers 2021, 13(14), 2238; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13142238 - 08 Jul 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2344
Abstract
Alignment layer plays a critical role on liquid crystal (LC) conformation for most LC devices. Normally, polyimide (PI) or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), characterized by their outstanding thermal and electrical properties, have been widely applied as the alignment layer to align LC molecules. Here, [...] Read more.
Alignment layer plays a critical role on liquid crystal (LC) conformation for most LC devices. Normally, polyimide (PI) or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), characterized by their outstanding thermal and electrical properties, have been widely applied as the alignment layer to align LC molecules. Here, we used a semi-conductive material poly(N-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) as the alignment layer to fabricate the cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) device and the polymer-stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals (PSCLC)-based infrared (IR) reflectors. In the presence of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, there are hole–electron pairs generated in the PVK layer, which neutralizes the impurity electrons in the LC–PVK junction, resulting in the reduction in the built-in electric field in the LC device. Therefore, the operational voltage of the CLC device switching from cholesteric texture to focal conic texture decreases from 45 V to 30 V. For the PSCLC-based IR reflectors with the PVK alignment layer, at the same applied electric field, the reflection bandwidth is enhanced from 647 to 821 nm, ranging from 685 to 1506 nm in the IR region, which makes it attractive for saving energy as a smart window. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications)
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9 pages, 3781 KiB  
Article
Tunable Waveguides Couplers Based on HPDLC for See-Through Applications
by Sergi Gallego, Daniel Puerto, Marta Morales-Vidal, Manuel G. Ramirez, Soumia I. Taleb, Antonio Hernández, Manuel Ortuño and Cristian Neipp
Polymers 2021, 13(11), 1858; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym13111858 - 03 Jun 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2119
Abstract
Photopolymers have become an important recording material for many applications, mainly related to holography. Their flexibility to change the chemical composition together with the optical properties made them a versatile holographic recording material. The introduction of liquid crystal molecules in a photopolymer based [...] Read more.
Photopolymers have become an important recording material for many applications, mainly related to holography. Their flexibility to change the chemical composition together with the optical properties made them a versatile holographic recording material. The introduction of liquid crystal molecules in a photopolymer based on multifunctional monomer provides us the possibility to generate tunable holograms. The switchable holographic elements are a key point for see-through applications. In this work, we optimize the holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals composition to improve the performance of tunable waveguide couplers based on transmission gratings and specifically their response under an applied electric field. A variation around 60% in the transmission efficiency was achieved. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications)
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8 pages, 1326 KiB  
Article
Phase-Shift Optimization in AA/PVA Photopolymers by High-Frequency Pulsed Laser
by Daniel Puerto, Sergi Gallego, Jorge Francés, Andrés Márquez, Inmaculada Pascual and Augusto Beléndez
Polymers 2020, 12(9), 1887; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym12091887 - 21 Aug 2020
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1850
Abstract
Photopolymers can be used to fabricate different holographic optical elements, although maximization of the phase-shift in photopolymers has been a challenge for the last few decades. Different material compositions and irradiation conditions have been studied in order to achieve it. One of the [...] Read more.
Photopolymers can be used to fabricate different holographic optical elements, although maximization of the phase-shift in photopolymers has been a challenge for the last few decades. Different material compositions and irradiation conditions have been studied in order to achieve it. One of the main conclusions has been that with continuous laser exposure better results are achieved. However, our results show for the first time that higher phase-shift can be achieved using a pulsed laser. The study has been conducted with crosslinked acrylamide-based photopolymers exposed with a pulsed laser (532 nm). The increment of the phase-shift between the pulsed laser and continuous laser exposure is 17%, achieving a maximum phase-shift of 3π radians and a refractive index shift of 0.0084 at the zero spatial frequency limit, where monomer diffusion does not take place. This allows this photopolymer to be used in large-scale manufacturing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Photopolymer Materials for Optical Applications)
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