An updatable holographic three-dimensional display

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 451; no. 7179; pp. 694 - 698
• Main Authors: Tay, Sava, Peyghambarian, N, Blanche, P.-A, Voorakaranam, R, Tunç, A. V, Lin, W, Rokutanda, S, Gu, T, Flores, D, Wang, P, Li, G, St Hilaire, P, Thomas, J, Norwood, R. A, Yamamoto, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.02.2008; Nature Publishing; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Display devices, liquid-crystal devices; Displays; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Hologram recording and read-out methods; Holographic recording materials; optical storage media; Holography; Humanities and Social Sciences; letter; Materials; Materials science; multidisciplinary; Optical elements, devices, and systems; Optical materials; Optics; Other techniques and industries; Photorefractive materials; Physics; Polymers; Product development; Properties; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Three dimensional vision; Three-dimensional display systems; United States; Military application; Diffraction efficiency; Three-dimensional displays; Light sensitive polymer; Holographic recording; Display devices; Holography; Recording material; Optical materials
• DOI: 10.1038/nature06596
• ISSN: 0028-0836

Holographic three-dimensional (3D) displays provide realistic images without the need for special eyewear, making them valuable tools for applications that require situational awareness, such as medical, industrial and military imaging. Currently commercially available holographic 3D displays use photopolymers that lack image-updating capability, resulting in restricted use and high cost. Photorefractive polymers are dynamic holographic recording materials that allow updating of images and have a wide range of applications, including optical correlation, imaging through scattering media and optical communication. To be suitable for 3D displays, photorefractive polymers need to have nearly 100% diffraction efficiency, fast writing time, hours of image persistence, rapid erasure, and large area-a combination of properties that has not been shown before. Here, we report an updatable holographic 3D display based on photorefractive polymers with such properties, capable of recording and displaying new images every few minutes. This is the largest photorefractive 3D display to date (4 × 4 inches in size); it can be recorded within a few minutes, viewed for several hours without the need for refreshing, and can be completely erased and updated with new images when desired.