The Physics Teacher Hologram Kit Review

Students are back to school,  so holograms can be too!  This is a great article covering our Hologram Kit for use by teachers, written by Chris Chiaverena for The Physics Teacher Journal.  It is not new, but it does a great job of highlighting the ease of making holograms in the classroom, and it is also the article cited by Wikipedia under their Holography section (we also think the Wikipedia page needs some updates and additions to include LitiHolo’s contributions to holography and our instant hologram film, so contact us if you want to help with that).  Here’s the full article:

Litiholo Holography:  Apparatus Review

(Also titled:  Litiholo holography – So easy even a cave-man could have done it (apparatus review)

“Back in the day, making a hologram often required a sandbox for vibration isolation, a fairly powerful and relatively expensive laser, beam splitters, some front surface mirrors and perhaps a lens or two, and developing chemicals. The equipment and conditions necessary to successfully produce a hologram put holography beyond the means of most precollege teachers and their students. Thankfully, things have changed.

For well over a decade, it has been possible to make holograms with relative ease and at moderate expense. Gone is the need for the sandbox and high-priced lasers. Low-power, inexpensive laser diodes and inventive logistics make it possible for students at virtually all grade levels to produce their own holograms safely and inexpensively.

Much of the credit for making holography accessible and safe goes to Lake Forest College Professor Emeritus and recipient of AAPT’s Robert A. Millikan Medal Tung Jeong. His tireless efforts have made it possible to engage students in the study of optics through the exciting field of holography. Now Jeong’s pioneering advances have been taken one step further by Liti Holographics.

One of the things that may have prevented science teachers and parents from having their students get involved with holography was the chemistry needed to develop the holographic film. This is no longer a problem. “LitiHolo”, a division of Liti Holographics, has revolutionized student-friendly holography by coming up with a self-developing “Instant Hologram” film, making the production of holograms possible without the use of developing chemicals. And because the active components in the film are consumed during exposure, the film is no longer sensitive to light after exposure. As a consequence, the film is ready for viewing immediately after exposure.

Another positive aspect of the Litiholo film is its ability to “forgive” the presence of a moderate amount of ambient light during exposure. The film requires approximately five minutes of illumination with laser light for saturation. As a result, the film is relatively insensitive to light that might enter a room as a result of a door being opened momentarily.

The Litiholo Hologram Kit comes with everything that’s needed to produce transmission holograms: A 5-mW, 633-nm laser diode, 20 2”x3” Instant Hologram film plates, a blue LED darkroom light, a battery holder, and even a toy car for use as an object. Also included in the kit are three interlocking plastic pieces that support the laser and film and hold the laser and film plate in alignment. These precision laser-cut pieces virtually eliminate relative motion between laser and film, thus increasing the change for success.

Assembly of the hologram kit is very simple. It consists of fitting together the laser mount, holographic plate holder, and spacer – the three pieces of plastic mentioned previously. After inserting the laser diode in the laser mount and connecting the leads from a battery pack to the laser, you’re ready to make a hologram.

Before an unexposed film plate is taken out, a cardboard shutter is placed in front of the laser. The laser is then turned on and allowed to stabilize for five minutes. Once an object, such as the toy car shown in Fig.1, has been selected and placed on the designated spot on the plate holder, it’s time to turn off the lights, take out an unexposed film plate, and place it in the slot on the plate holder. A wait time of three minutes is suggested to allow small vibrations to damp out. The shutter is then removed for five minutes and replaced. The hologram is now ready for viewing, which is accomplished by looking through the film plate after removing the shutter and object.

Transmission holograms require the use of a laser for viewing. Since students will most certainly want to share their holograms with family and friends, reflection holograms, which can be viewed with white light, may be preferable. For an additional $45, a reflection hologram upgrade kit is available. The kit includes a “laser tower” and spacer designed to properly position the laser for making reflection holograms. As a bonus, 10 Instant Hologram film plates are included with the upgrade kit.

This reviewer has found that while viewing the reflection holograms with a laser light produces the best results, illuminating the holograms with a flashlight, sunlight, or spotlights found in track-lighting systems also works well.

I’ve produced both transmission and reflection holograms using the Litiholo kit, over a dozen in all, without a failure. I’ve also included optical elements such as lenses and mirrors in my holograms and produced a holographic diffraction grating.

To see just how closely the prescribed production procedure has to be followed, I intentionally bent the rules on occasion. I varied the exposure time, allowed some light into the room, and even introduced a small amount of vibration. To my surprise, and delight, I always had at least a modicum of success.

While the Litiholo Holography Kit may not meet the needs of experienced holographers, the system will allow parents and teachers to bring the magic of holography, and the science behind it, into their homes and classrooms. As has been mentioned, even with the relatively small film plates, much experimentation is possible … and all without chemicals and the need for ideal conditions. Who could have ever imagined that making a hologram could be so simple?”

The article “Litiholo holography – So easy even a caveman could have done it (apparatus review)” was written by Chris Chiaverina in November 2010 for Vol. 48. You can check out the PDF version here and learn more about the AAPT on their website.