Dichromated gelatin holography: an investigation into laser-induced damage.

An investigation into the occurrence of laser-induced damage in a sealed dichromated gelatin hologram is presented. Our research shows that damage appears when the laser beam heats the gelatin above a certain critical temperature. As a way to relate this to the optical power, a model predicting the temperature profile generated by a Gaussian beam is developed and used to calculate the optical damage threshold of a dichromated gelatin hologram.