Abstract

Volume holographic gratings have been demonstrated for narrow bandwidth, high spectral selectivity filtering in both the visible and IR.¹,² For 1.5 μm these filters are of particular interest for telecommunications devices for wavelength division multiplexing. Recently, the lifetime of volume holographic gratings in LiNbO₃ was presented for the weak screening case that is primarily encountered in holographic data storage applications. In this paper, we address the issue of lifetime for the high efficiency filter application, such as filters, standards, and couplers. Useable lifetimes at 25°C of 20-30 years have been obtained from accelerated measurements at elevated temperatures for these high efficiency IR holographic gratings.

© 1996 Optical Society of America