Porous-matrix holography for nonspatial filtering of lasers Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • A novel technique is described for laser beam cleanup, the nonspatial filter, which is based on the Bragg selectivity of thick holograms. Unlike pinhole and fiber spatial filters, which employ lenses and apertures in the transform plane, nonspatial filters operate directly on the laser beam. This eliminates the need for laser beam focusing, which is the source of many of the alignment instabilities and laser power limitations of spatial filters. Standard holographic materials are not suitable for this application because differential shrinkage during processing limits the maximum Bragg angle selectivity attainable. This paper describes a new technology which eliminates the problem of differential shrinkage. This technology is based on the use of a rigid porous substrate material, such as porous gas, filled with a light sensitive material, such as holographic photopolymers or dichromated gelatin. We report preliminary results of holographic nonspatial filtering of a laser beam in one dimension, with an angular selectivity of less than 1 milliradian.

published proceedings

  • Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering

author list (cited authors)

  • Ludman, J. E., Riccobono, J. R., Caulfield, H. J., Fournier, J., Semenova, I. V., Reinhand, N. O., Hemmer, P. R., & Shahriar, S. M.

complete list of authors

  • Ludman, JE||Riccobono, JR||Caulfield, HJ||Fournier, JMR||Semenova, IV||Reinhand, NO||Hemmer, PR||Shahriar, SM

publication date

  • January 1995