The sol-gel approach for the preparation of holographic and photorefractive materials.

This work describes how the sol-gel process can be a useful approach for the preparation of hybrid materials showing holographic as well as photorefractive properties. The composition of the holographic and photorefractive materials prepared through the sol-gel approach are completely based on their respective multi-functional polymer analogues, but in the polymer acting as host matrix which is replaced by a nanoporous silica matrix. Such a replacement infers an overall improvement in both the optical and the mechanical properties of the material. The goodness of the properties found for either the holographic as well as the photorefractive materials demonstrate the validity of these new synthetic routes for the preparation of optical recording materials.