Rainbow Holograms Created with New Inkjet Printer Material

It may be possible to create holograms from inkjet printers. Scientists have developed colorless ink made of nanocrystalline titania that can be loaded into an inkjet printer to create holographic images.

Holographic images and text can be used for security purposes. This latest system, though, may greatly reduce the cost and time needed to create rainbow holograms to protect items such as credit cards and paper currency.

"The conventional way of preparing a hologram is incredibly time-consuming and consists of several stages," said Aleksandr Yakovlev, first author of the new study, in a news release. "First, one needs to create a master hologram, which is usually laser recorded on a thin layer of photosensitive polymer. The polymer is then dried and wash-out to get rid of unexposed parts. The resulting stencil is then transferred to a metallic matrix, which eventually serves to emboss holographic microrelief on the surface of a transparent polymer film."

According to the researchers, the whole process of obtaining a holographic image may take several days.

However, the new nanocrystalline ink makes it possible to cut down the expenditures and times to create rainbow holograms by several times. The ink is applied with a simple inkjet printer on a microembossed surface, which is afterwards covered by varnish. As a result, the holographic image is exclusively seen in those areas, where the protective ink was deposited.

"The peculiarity of our ink lies in its high refractive index in all visible range of light," said Alexander Vinogradov, one of the researchers. "The use of nanocrystalline ink forms a layer with high refractive index that helps preserve the rainbow holographic effect after the varnish or a polymer layer is applied on top."

The findings are published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials.

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