Creation of periodic structures in a thick photopolymerizing layer

The possibility of optical creation of polymer structures with a periodic distribution of the refractive index in a layer of a photopolymerizing composition, the thickness of which significantly exceeds the depth of field of the used projection system, is considered. Nonlinear wave processes in such an irreversible photorefractive medium for grating-forming radiation are considered. Using computer simulation, modes of stable self-channeling of closely propagating light beams have been found, as a result of which regular extended waveguide tracks can be obtained. The results of experiments on the creation of thick polymer gratings using a conventional incoherent projection system are demonstrated. In a composition based on industrial monomer OCM-2, gratings with a period of 10 mu m and a thickness of more than 1 mm were obtained. Optical formation of thick polymer lattice.image