Dye-doped PQ-PMMA phase holographic materials for DFB lasing

Phase holographic materials based on phenanthrenquinone (PQ) in poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) matrices additionally doped with laser dyes (LD) have been developed and investigated. It was found that the holographic properties of the dye-doped materials are almost the same as that of pure PQ-PMMA. In particular, the amplification of the holographic gratings due to post-exposure diffusion was demonstrated. An amplitude of the refractive index modulation of about 3 x 10(3) was achieved for the enhanced gratings with periods in the range of 0.3-30 mu m. Homogeneous distribution of PQ and LD in the enhanced gratings was found by means of a microscope-spectrometer. Such doped volume gratings can be used for different optical and photonic applications. As one possible application of the gratings distributed feedback lasing was tested. A narrow-band second-order laser emission has been demonstrated in 18 mu m thick volume gratings based on optimized PQ-PMMA materials doped with pyrromethene laser dyes.