For Holograms recorded with continuous laser

Exposure:
Plate may be exposed directly after being removed from the box (after a stabilization period of 30 minutes at ambient room temperature, if the plate was just removed from refrigeration). For any given laser-power, the exposure time must be precisely adjusted, this is the ONLY parameter that can or should be adjusted for perfect holograms. See the curve above to understand better. For a given emulsion and laser set up, you must find the correct exposure through experiment. Extremely bright images, totally noise free, with more than 90% diffraction efficiency, can be obtained with ULTIMATE plates in almost any recording set up, if you use the correct exposure time.

Safe Developer: We have adjusted our custom developers for the special emulsions we supply. It is a fine grain developer, totally safe to use, delivered as a concentrate.

For 4"x5" plates and film: just before use take 5cc from the concentrate bottle and add 50ml water (Ultimate 15nm and Ultimate 8nm). For a 30x40cm, take 40ml plus 400ml water. After processing, we recommend disposing of this diluted developer although some users have reported that it may be can re-used within 6 hours: please test this if you'd like and let us know your results.
Processing time: 6 minutes @ 20°C for Ultimate-15 and 8 minutes @ 20°C for Ultimate-08 .

Development generally starts after 20-30 seconds with new plates (plates used prior to the stated "use after" date) or immediatly with plates used after the "use after" date. It gives a reddish color on the plate for Ultimate 15nm , and pale yellow/orange color with Ultimate 08nm, due to the very small grain size (Mie diffusion). This is very likely much smaller than any emulsion you've used before. It is normal that you get NO DENSITY at all (for 08nm) or can not increase the density to dark black like on old Agfa material (for 15nm), so do not expose or try to process more. After this recommended development time, you can be sure that all exposed grains are processed. There is no possible density control in this step (comparing to standard photofilm or current larger-grained holographic plates like AGFA, etc.) that is why the exposure time is THE ONLY VARIABLE PARAMETER.

Important Notice:   an unexposed area can blacken in the developer. As the exposed area blackens very little due to the fine grain, it seems the unexposed and exposed parts have the same color. This is a normal characteristic of our material (15nm). It does not mean the material is fogged at all. When bleaching, the unexposed part (which is in fact only "colored") it will become totally transparent when the exposed area is slightly milky. This is totally visible when the plate is dried.

Rinse: tap water 30 seconds.

Safe Bleach: with continuous slow agitation, to obtain good transparency (about 3 or 4 minutes ). Then let the plate sit for about the same time in this bath until complete transparency. The plate must be completely transparent like glass. If the plate looks milky, you are overexposed

Rinse: tap water for 2 minutes

Drying:
solution 1 :No contact natural drying. No contact is made with the emulsion.
 

step 1: Rinse 1 minute in distilled or demineralized water with a few drops of Kodak fotoflo
 

step 2: Let it dry supported vertically for a few minutes (other solution without contact: alcohol (ethanol) 50% 2 minutes; 100% for 2 minutes)

solution 2 :
fast drying but be careful not to scratch the emulsion.
 

step 1: Rinse 1 minute in distilled or demineralized water a few drops of fotoflo (Kodak)
 

step 2: squeegee the film/plate and fast dry it with hair dryer

 

PROCESSING FOR ULTIMATE LIPPMANN:

There are initial recommendations based on our experimental experience at this time

Lumiere developer: For processing one 4x5" film/plate:
mix just before use : part A 0,1g pyrogallol in 50ml water + part B ,0,75ml ammonia solution + 1g KBr in 50ml water

The standard developer for holography could work well too: processing 6 minutes dilluted 1+10. the color is extremly pale yellow. Wash and dry. (no bleach after developer)

A little swell of the emulsion has to be done for perfect color reconstruction after developer. No bleaching has to be done. The swelling can be done with a sorbitol solution (5-10%)