Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2011
We explored the formation of holographic gratings by means of a polymer azobenzene liquid crystal (PALC). When two writing beams (argon-ion laser, 488 nm, unpolarized) were interfered on the surface of the PALC film (thickness, 500 ∼ 600 nm), multiple diffraction beams were observed immediately, resulting from grating formation. Such generation of the diffraction beams was assumed to be due to a periodic induction of photochemical phase transition in the bright fringes of the interference pattern. The grating is namely made up of a periodic arrangement of nematic (N, dark fringes) and isotropic (I, bright fringes) phases. Observation of recorded interference patterns under a cross-polarized optical microscope supported our speculation for the structure of the grating. On the basis of these results, we succeeded in recording an image hologram of a photomask as an object.