Reverse-Mode Transmission Gratings Holographically Recorded Utilizing Liquid Crystalline Photopolymers*

Reverse-mode transmission gratings are holographically recorded in a polymer dispersed liquid crystal materials set utilizing the 540nm lasing wavelength. The samples are synthesized utilizing mixtures of a reactive mesogen, RM257, nematic liquid crystals E44 and E3100-100, acrylate monomers and a photo- oxidant dye. We investigate the formation parameters, electro- optical and frequency characteristics of these gratings. It is found that for an applied field strength of around 14 V/$\mu$m a relative increase in the diffraction efficiency of almost 1200\% is obtained with switching times of 12ms.