Infrared holography: an analysis of the thermal behavior of thin films.

This paper presents an analysis describing the thermal behavior of a thin film subjected to a spatially modulated irradiation field. The analysis shows that it is possible using a cw laser to establish a temperature field in such a film that maps the irradiation pattern with a resolution adequate for recording high quality holograms. Effects of the thermal properties of the film and substrate on such recording characteristics as linearity, sensitivity, and resolution are examined. A high diffraction efficiency recording technique based on the sublimation of a thin film situated on a constant temperature substrate is proposed as an example of the application of the analysis.