Volume hologram replication system for spectrum-splitting photovoltaic applications

A system for replicating high-efficiency volume hologram arrays, which has potential for high-volume manufacturing, is proposed. The system can meet the fabrication requirements of spectrum-splitting photovoltaic systems that are based on transmission volume holographic lens arrays. While previous hologram replication systems are mostly based on variations of the contact-copy method, the new technique is based on diffraction of reference and object beams from a master hologram through a prism and does not require contact with the copy hologram. The replication system has a number of identified advantages over contact-copy systems. An experimental volume holographic lens arrays fabricated using the proposed system had high median diffraction efficiency and low variability (95.3%+/-0.9%).