Analysis of optical properties and internal structures of γ-ray-irradiated holographic devices formed using liquid crystal composites

Abstract

A holographic memory with optical writing information for an optically reconfigurable gate array was fabricated and investigated under increasing γ-ray irradiation doses. The bright spot pattern in a 20 × 17 array, reconstructed from the holographic memory, was correctly reproduced with an increasing radiation dose till 300 Mrad. The diffraction efficiency corresponding to each bright spot was maintained at a high value of 50% and, in some cases, over 60%, indicating radiation resistance up to a total dose of 300 Mrad. In addition, four holographic devices, formed via the same process and under similar conditions using liquid crystal composites, were simultaneously used to evaluate the differences among the multiple samples through polarizing optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.