Three-dimensional display based on refreshable volume holograms in photochromic diarylethene polymer

Abstract

Holographic display is a promising technique for three-dimensional (3D) display because it has the ability to reconstruct both the intensity and wavefront of a 3D object. Real-time holographic display has been demonstrated in photorefractive polymers. It is expected to carry out dynamic 3D display by recording holograms into a volume holographic polymer due to its high-density storage capacity, good multiplexing property. In this work an updatable 3D display based on volume holographic polymer of photochromic diarylethene is proposed. The photochromic diarylethene polymer is a promising rewritable recording material for holograms with high resolution, fatigue resistance and quick responding of erasure. The computer-generated holograms carrying with wavefronts of 3D objects are written to the diarylethene polymer, and the recorded holograms in the polymer can be easily erased when exposed in ultraviolet light. The 3D scenes can be reconstructed for the write/erase cycles.