Highly transparent ZrO(2) nanoparticle-dispersed acrylate photopolymers for volume holographic recording.

We demonstrate and characterize volume holographic recording in ZrO(2) nanoparticle-dispersed acrylate photopolymer films that have very low scattering loss. More than thirty-fold reduction in the scattering coefficient, as compared with those of previously reported TiO(2) nanoparticle-dispersed photopolymers, is achieved. It is shown that the refractive index modulation as high as 5.3x10(-3), together with substantive photopolymerization-shrinkage suppression, is obtained at the nanoparticle concentration of 15 vol.%. Dependences of nanoparticle concentration and grating spacing on the refractive index modulation are also investigated.