High efficiency uniform nonplanar holographic optical elements in photo-thermo-refractive glass

The objective of this proposal is to create a new type of a complex holographic element which is an extremely narrow band lens or curved mirror created in a phase holographic medium, which is a photo-thermo-refractive (PTR) glass. Those elements will be used for imaging concurrently with the spectral selection, at a sub-nanometer level, of wavelengths within the visible and near-UV spectra. This innovation is based on thick phase holograms recorded in the bulk of a photosensitive glass, and nonlinear properties of this material. Proposed development will widen applications of PTR glass technology. Limitations imposed by current recording technique based on UV recoding will be overcome. OptiGrate will use patented and exclusively licensed technology from the University of Central Florida for the development. OptiGrate has successfully commercialized a technology of high efficient planar reflective Bragg gratings (RBGs) with spectral resolution of less than 0.1 nm. Within scope of this project technology of narrow band filters with large field of view will be established.