Photopolymerizable Nanoparticle-polymer Composite Materials for Light and Neutron Beam Manipulations

We report on a recent progress in a new class of photopolymerizable nanostructured materials, the so-called photopolymerizable nanoparticle-polymer composites (NPCs). They consist of photoreactive monomer (photopolymer) dispersed with inorganic or organic nanoparticles at high concentrations. The initially uniform distribution of nanoparticles in a neat monomer host is spatially assembled under holographic exposure, providing the single step formation of large scale and multi-dimensional photonic lattice structures in NPC films. This property can be used for versatile applications in photonics and neutron optics such as holographic data storage, holographic optical elements, nonlinear photonic crystals and slow-neutron beam control. Here we describe applications of NPCs dispersed with new organic and inorganic nanoparticles to holographic data storage and holographic diffractive elements for light and neutron beams.