Theoretical study of slanted holographic gratings for application in sensing

Graceson Antony^1,2, Dervil Cody^1,2, and Izabela Naydenova^1
1Centre for Industrial and Engineering Optics, FOCAS Research Institute, Technological University Dublin,
Camden Row, D08 CKP1 Dublin 8
²School of Physics, Clinical and Optometric Sciences, Technological University Dublin, Central Quad,
Grangegorman lower, D07 ADY7, Dublin, Ireland

Dedicated to Prof John Sheridan

Functionalized holographic gratings present a promising approach to the development of optical sensors. Volume phase transmission or reflection holographic gratings have been explored for the detection of chemical, biochemical, and biomedical analytes, as well as environmental parameters such as humidity, temperature, and pressure. Volume phase holographic gratings are characterized by a strong dependence of their diffraction efficiency on the angle of incidence of the probe beam. Maximum diffraction efficiency is observed at the Bragg angle; any detuning from the Bragg angle can cause a significant change in the efficiency of the gratings. The angular detuning is typically a result of the change in the average refractive index and/or the thickness of the layer in which the grating is recorded, both changes happening in the presence of the target analyte. In this work, we theoretically compare the sensitivity of unslanted and slanted volume transmission holographic gratings to angular detuning caused by the presence of the analyte. We demonstrate that slanted gratings are more sensitive to Bragg angle detuning caused by the target analyte. We also demonstrate that in the case of slanted gratings, the sensitivity depends on the choice of the probe beam, which in this case is incident at different angles to the grating and this must be considered when the sensor device is designed. © Anita Publications. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Holographic sensors, Volume phase transmission holograms, Slanted holographic gratings, Diffraction gratings.

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