Embossed Holograms�from �Silver-Halide Masters
Dr. David Pizzanelli
www.Pizzanelli.co.uk
Hollusions Ltd
Incorporated in 1980
Light Impressions Inc
First Embossed Holograms made in USA
went on sale in 1980
See 3 Holograms Ltd�
Hollusions Ltd & �SEE 3 Holograms Ltd
“Pierrot with Ball”
made at the PATCentre, �Spring 1981
�Master (H2) hologram made on a photo-resist plate and flat embossed into polycarbonate. First 3D embossed hologram in Europe.
Sunningdale
The Kodak Ship
See 3 Holograms Ltd�New Lab in London
See 3 Holograms Ltd�New Lab in London
See 3 Holograms Ltd�New Lab in London
See 3 Holograms Ltd�New Lab in London
See 3 Holograms Ltd�Laser Studio
Optical table: H2 plate holder in the foreground, H1 plate holder�in the middle, 22 inch collimating mirror, left, and Argon laser.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�“Pierrot with Hoops”
Re-make of the Pierrot Hologram, using a silver halide plate as the Master (H2) hologram. Hologram size: 8 inches x 4 inches (203 mm X 101 mm) embossed in PVC at Jayco Plastics Ltd, Watford.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�Ford Granada / Scorpio
The Ford Granada / Scorpio hologram, commissioned by Ford Europe. Hologram size: 8 inches x 4 inches (203 mm X 101 mm). H2 hologram made using a silver halide plate as the Master (H2) hologram. Right hand drive and left hand drive versions made by reversing the image at the electro-forming stage of production.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�“Klösterfrau”
Klösterfrau hologram, commissioned by Holo Gmbh. Hologram size: 6 inches x 6 inches (150 mm X 150 mm). H2 hologram made using a silver halide plate as the Master (H2) hologram. Model was too fragile to shoot with CW laser, so the H1 hologram master was made using a pulse laser, with Dr. John Webster at the CEGB.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�“2D-3D”
Imitating the style of Light Impression’s “2D-3D” (1982), SEE 3 made holograms with up to five diffractive colours on the surface and a background level set behind the surface plane.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�“American Greetings”
American Greetings: Commissioned by Amblehurst Ltd for American Greetings company in the USA was a series of 58 designs used on greeting cards in America, each with 4 “2D” diffractive colours.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�Commodore / Amiga
Dual-Channel 3D hologram made for Commodore Amiga
See 3 Holograms Ltd�3D Holograms
Examples of 3”X3” (75 mm X 75 mm) 3D holograms that
were optically recombined onto the same plate.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�Security Foils
As well as large format holograms (up to 8 inches / 203 mm) that were embossed into PVC or Polyester, several smaller images were made that were embossed into hot-stamping foil. These were typically for use as authentication devices on plastic cards.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�Holograms in Records
The Hologram Picture Disc: When music was still pressed into black vinyl, SEE 3 developed a method of making surface relief masters that could be incorporated into record masters so that the hologram was stamped into the 45 rpm single disc at the same time as the music track was pressed onto the other side.
H1 Master Holograms
The H1 (laser transmission) Holograms were made on Agfa-Gevaert Holotest 8E56 HD 30 cm X 40 cm plates, cut down to 15 cm X 40 cm. Exposures were 2 to 3 seconds at 500 mw 514 nm (green) from an Innova 90 Argon laser. The beam ratio was typically about 6:1 with a collimated reference beam at an angle of 32 degrees. The plates were developed in Tetenal Neofin Blue to a density of 1 and fixed in F-24. The plate was masked with Rubylith red film to make slits 3 to 4 mm wide.
H2 Surface-Relief Holograms
The H2 Hologram plates were developed in GP61 to a density of up to 1.5 and fixed in F-24. After fixing they were washed for 45 minutes and bleached in GB3 bleach until clear, followed by a 20 minute wash before drying in 50% methanol / 50% water and a 100% methanol bath. Plates were blow-dried with nitrogen.
H2 Surface-Relief Holograms
GP61 DEVELOPER
Distilled water 700 ml at 500 C
Metol 6 grams�Quinol 7 grams
Phenidone 0.8 grams
Sodium Sulphite 30 grams
Sodium Carbonate 60 grams
Potasium Bromide 2 grams
Distilled water to make up to 1 litre. Use at 200 C
GB3 BLEACH
Part A
Ammonium Dichromate 10 grams
Toluene-4-Sulphonic Acid 50 grams
Distilled water to make 1 litre
Part B
Potassium Bromide, Analar 38.35 grams
Distilled water to make 1 litre
Dilute each part 1:4 with distilled water prior to use. Use only once.
H3 Surface-Relief Holograms
The H3 Hologram plates were made by casting a visible light cure resin made by Scot Bader onto 10 mm thick, 14”diameter Perspex discs. The resin was cured by exposure to a set of 6 quartz halogen spotlights for about 1 hour. Excess resin was removed from the edges prior to separation of the plate from the Perspex disc.
Surface-Relief Holograms
The H3 Hologram plate was then sealed in a plastic box (used in the record industry at the time to transport round glass master discs) and then sent to Inco ltd in for electro-forming.
By using a 30 X 40 cm plate we were able to make shims with an image area of up to about 10 inches (254 mm) square.
See 3 Holograms Ltd�Conclusion
The commercial work of SEE 3 Holograms Ltd in the years 1982 to 1989
showed that it is possible to make bright clear surface-relief holograms with an image depth of up to 6 inches (150 mm) using silver-halide materials. By replicating the H2 plate with a suitable resin, (or by using chemical solvents to impress the image into plastic), H3 copies can be made that are suitable for replication by electro-forming (to make limited editions of shims) or to make larger embossed hologram editions in plastic.
David@Pizzanelli.co.uk