Photorefractive properties of polymer composites fabricated by injection molding

Summary form only given. Optical organic photonic materials are emerging as an important class of new optoelectronic materials. Polymers and organic molecules with photoconductive, electro-active, photorefractive, and electroluminescent properties have been developed in recent years and have been inserted into numerous devices including organic field-effect transistors, lasers, electroluminescent diodes, holographic recording films, and photovoltaic cells. A major advantage of these materials over their inorganic counterparts is that they can be processed from solution into thin films or into objects of various shapes using industrial processing techniques such as extrusion and injection molding. These techniques can lead to large scale manufacturing at low temperature and at low cost of light-weight devices. We demonstrate the true industrial process capability of photorefractive polymers. These materials belong to the class of organic multifunctional organic materials. With their high dynamic range and high sensitivity, photorefractive polymers have become promising materials for real-time holographic and imaging applications. Using a Morgan Industries G55-T 22 ton vertical travel press, we fabricated by injection molding samples of photorefractive polymers with various shapes and thicknesses. For our proof-of-principle experiments we formulated a photorefractive composite that was known to have good phase stability properties and a high dynamic range.