Digitally printed holograms on azo-functionalized copolymers for structured beam generation

Azo-functionalized copolymer holograms were fabricated for efficient generation of structured light beams. Holograms of size 2mm x 2mm were recorded/printed on polymer samples of size 3cm x 3cm and thickness 35 µm. When irradiated with a laser beam, the hologram emits several arbitrary structured light beams. A structured beam array consisting of 100 optical vortices was practically generated. Experimental generation of vector beams and Poincare beams are also reported. Diffraction efficiencies up to 85%, retention time up to 90-days, and a small size footprint of 2mm x 2mm makes it a promising candidate for optical information processing applications.