A cost-effective and reliable liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) system is developed for light modulation and holographic recording of variable data in photopolymer material. It is made by reverse engineering a mobile phone with a liquid crystal display (LCD) of resolution 84×48 pixels. The SLM is based on a detached LCD panel with drivers, a personal computer system, an interface to provide data, and the software for uploading data. The SLM works well in the transmissive mode, and the transmitted laser beam is modulated according to the electronic data input to the panel from a personal computer. The SLM is implemented with good transmission efficiency and image contrast for holographic data recording and related experiments, and is observed as a very cost-effective option for light modulation.
In this work two liquid crystal spatial light modulators (LCSLMs) were applied to encode a reference beam
and holographic storage of a set of encrypted data pages that formed the object beam. The SLMs were
developed by converting two 84×48 pixels mobile phone displays and were set in transmissive mode.
Fourier holograms were recorded in a red sensitive photopolymer emulsion (SM635C of POLYGRAMA,
Brazil), coated on a glass substrate. While replay the reconstructed data page, recorded against a specific
reference beam was captured by using a CCD camera and processed in a personal computer for decryption.
The encoded reference beam forms a unique key to the individual hologram recorded through shift
multiplexing. Diffraction efficiency of holograms was calculated and was found to be about 45%. The
system offers a very cost effective solution for secure data storage and retrieval and can be used for storing
valuable software, security documents etc.
Photopolymer based microholograms are gaining much importance in the field of security imaging, product
authentication and prevention of document forgery. Security holograms, mass produced through soft or hard embossing,
from electroformed metal master holograms are not amenable to store and retrieve variable data. On the other side, rapid
developments in optical and digital technologies result in large scale counterfeiting of conventional security holograms
and look-alike holograms of great exactitude is becoming a real threat to original manufacturers. In contrast to
conventional recording materials, photopolymer holograms do not need wet processing. They are amenable to
replication and, at the same time, can hold variable data. This, apart from security at various levels, facilitates machine
readability, automation, easy tracking and effective maintenance of inventory. This paper presents design, development
and performance evaluation of a photopolymer based holographic variable data storage system for security applications.
A liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) is used to create a modulated optical data beam that varies from hologram
to hologram. Photopolymer films in tape form are applied for continuous recording of micro-holograms, synchronous
with the variable data content. This is a novel, but simple data storage system and can be used to give added security, in
conjunction with conventional holograms. Easy and on site verification by applying special reading devices and
dedicated software is the other charm of the proposed system. Moreover, for added protection, variable key based data
encryption can be applied effectively. System parameters like diffraction efficiency, recording speed, preprocessing
requirements etc. are analyzed and the response of the photopolymer material is also evaluated.
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