How to make Holograms at home

[larrydressler]

I thought some of you might find this intersting.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7759505/

[jamesp]

cool! I hope this is on store shelves soon!

[larrydressler]

Same here I bet you may find it first next to the eye department aw Wal-Mart. I still have to build my Crystal ans Volcano kits I got there. I wanted to grow the crystals on the volcano and try to photograph it. I know it sounds strange but then even doing it in 3-D? Who knows. Larry

[scott_eaton]

Cool.

 

I've worked with holography in the past, and by far the most irritating and complex procedure was dealing with exotic russian holographic emulsions and toxic processing. The actual set-up and equipment was very simple.

 

Given the popularity of laser pointers and their superior temporal coherence over my prior gas lasers, all that's left is to simplify the film stage. Not sure what type of emulsion is being used, but I can bet you can find it on the open market for a lot cheaper.

[gary_deal]

Well, the "Princess Leia" "hologram" wasn't really a hologram, it was a movie invention. Whether such a thing can be done with current technology is debatable (though not as shown in the movie), but nobody seems to have produced a viable one just yet. I have my own design ideas but haven't pursued it so far.

 

Experienced holographers have had a difficult time producing a decent hologram with the Liti materials, but apparently the company people can get it accomplished. I understand they're trying to improve it. The emulsion itself is a proprietary Liti item (photopolymer) and not on the general market, but there's another company with an available photopolymer that's also working to improve their product. There's also a method for making your own holographic plates that's pretty simple (http://cabd0.tripod.com/holograms/id3.html).

 

If there's any "former" holographers reading that want to see what's up these days, do some reading at http://www.holographyforum.org/. Agfa materials are long gone, Slavich (russian) is probably the most common, and there's BB640 and Yves Gentet Ultimate. I've got a big roll of Ilford holofilm, and I've managed to resensitize a fixed out Tmax glass plate and produce a reflection hologram on it. Not a "good" hologram, but it's there and I'm trying to refine the process for pre-existing emulsions. Oh, and the processing need not bequite as toxic as those old mercuric chloride potions.