Holographic technique is a unique method to reproduce object on a device in three dimensions (3D). It allows us real 3D images with full parallax without special eye glasses or any special optical devices. we present fully updatable holographic 3D display system using a holographic stereographic technique with a transparent optical device of poly(methylmethacrylate) doped organic compound of 3-[(4-nitrophenyl)azo]-9H-carbazole-9-ethanol (NACzE). 100 elemental holograms which are a series of pictures of object took from different angles can completely reproduce updatable entire hologram of object. Former hologram of object can be over-recorded and immediately replaced by new hologram of object without erasing process. Typical recording time for an elemental hologram is 200 ms, and total recording time including translational stage movement for 100 elemental holograms is 28 s. The present system with preferred memory is a good candidate for 3D signage application.

Although some azo-carbazole derivatives attached on or doped into inert polymers are known to show photorefractive effect without external electric field, the origin of their asymmetric energy transfer in two-beam coupling experiments were unknown. We made the two-beam coupling experiment followed by sample translation and one-beam diffraction at 633 nm for thick films composed of 3-[(4-nitrophenyl)]azo-9H-carbazole-9-ethanol (NACzEtOH) and poly(methylmethacrylate), finding that photoinduced gratings grew in several minutes accompanied with phase displacement of the gratings, but the phase shift was not always synchronized with the refractive index modulation. We reformulated the Kogelnik's coupled-wave theory with strict energy conservation law for analysis. Comparison of the grating growth and erasure at 532 nm to Disperse Red 1 (DR1), the most well-known azo dye showed that the photoisomerization was dominant at this wavelength and that the azo-carbazole dyes were faster in response time and more resistive to erasure than DR1.

The comprehensive mechanism of updatable holographic diffraction is presented for a monolithic compound of 3-[(4-nitrophenyl)azo]-9H-carbazole-9-ethanol (NACzE) dispersed poly(methyl methacrylate) film device. The maximum sensitivity occurs at 561 nm, which well coincides with an isosbestic point between cis-trans isomers of NACzE molecule. The holographic grating is ascribed to the absorption grating and the following refractive index grating due to the photo-orientation of NACzE molecules. The response and decay times for the diffraction are governed by the glass transition temperature of the matrix.

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Grating inscription in azo-dye doped polymers is an interesting phenomenon because of its high diffraction performance and applicability to real-time 3D displays. Although some of these materials were investigated under no external electric field with symmetric optical alignments in preceding studies, they often showed a phase shift of periodic modulation of refractive index from the interference fringe formed by irradiation beams, resulting in asymmetric energy exchange between two coupled beams. The mechanism of the behavior has been usually attributed to the molecular motions triggered by trans-cis isomerization, but their details are still unknown. Therefore, studies on temporal evolution of the process and their translation into physical meaning are necessary. In order to investigate the evolution of grating inscription and phase shift, several methods have been developed. In this study, we analyzed the coupled wave equations proposed by Kogelnik, and derived general solution applicable to the system with both phase and amplitude gratings with arbitrary phase relationship. We showed that the analysis based on the equation can give a direct evidence of the phase shift between the phase and amplitude gratings if it exists. This method was applied to the fringe pattern inscribed in thick films of PMMA doped with an azo-carbazole dye, showing that observed signals indicated the phase deviation between two types of gratings.