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Abstract

Volume holographic gratings are periodic refractive index structures widely used in sensing and photonic devices. This paper develops a modeling and computational framework for predicting the copying accuracy of two-dimensional gratings recorded in photopolymer materials using interference lithography. A previous mathematical model is generalized to describe material transport, polymer growth, and modulation of the refractive index during exposure, enabling, for the first time, a quantitative assessment of copying accuracy in holographic gratings. High-fidelity finite-element simulations were performed for different optical lattices produced by three-beam interference. The results show that the diffusion–polymerization ratio has a strong impact on pattern accuracy, modulation depth, and polymer distribution. In particular, diffusion-dominated regimes enable high copying accuracy, while polymerization-dominated conditions lead to significant distortions of the recorded structure. Furthermore, the model predictions are experimentally validated by good agreement in the measured diffraction patterns and efficiencies.

Keywords

Mathematical Modeling, photopolymerization, computer Modeling, Photopolymerization, holographic gratings, holographic grating, Holographic material, Holographic optical, holographic materials, Interference lithography, Optical lattices, diffraction efficiency, diffraction grating, Refractive index modulation, refractive index sensing, Volume holography, Reaction diffusion equations, Partial differential equations, PDEs, Nonlinear systems, FEM, Finite element method, Numerical simulations, Numerical simulation and super-computing, HPC, Photopolymer materials, Photopolymer, Polymerization kinetics, Polymer growth, Copying accuracy, Pattern distortion, Spatial frequency response, Pattern fidelity, Bravais lattices, Periodic structures, Simulation framework, Optical fabrication, Lithographic patterning, Harmonic distortion, Intensity modulation, Material response, Wave interference, Grating formation

Publication Date

2026-05-28

Publication Title

Journal of the Optical Society of America B

Volume

43

Issue

6

ISSN

0740-3224

First Page

1274

Last Page

1284

Deposit Date

2026-07-27

Funding

Owen Kearney acknowledges support from the Irish Research Council (IRC) Government of Ireland Postgraduate Scholarship Programme (Grant No. GOIPG/2021/1055).

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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