Abstract

We have recently demonstrated the enhancement of the saturated refractive index modulation (Δn_sat) of ZrO₂ nano-particle-polymer composite (NPC) volume gratings recorded at short grating spacing by doping chain transferring a single functional thiol (mono-thiol) as a chain transfer agent (CTA) [1]. We have also achieved substantive shrinkage suppression in this NPC system. Since cross-linking networks can be controlled by introducing multifunctional thiols in photopolymers [2], it is expected that another important property of recorded NPC volume gratings, the thermal stability, may also be improved. Here we report on a thermal stability analysis of ZrO₂ NPC volume gratings containing thiols with varied functionalities.

© 2014 Japan Society of Applied Physics, Optical Society of America