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Holograms are everywhere, aren’t they? They’re pretty cool, but did you know that you can
actually make your own? When I found out, I just had to try it out for myself. So I
got this Litiholo hologram kit from the Maker Shed to give it a try. I’ll show you how
it works.
The kit has everything you need to make your own hologram, including the laser, a mounting
base, holographic film plates, and even an object to turn into a hologram. Snap together
the pieces of the base and remove the lens barrel and spring from the laser diode. As
with any laser, be sure not to point it in your eye.
Insert the laser into the base and hook up the battery. Without the lens on the front
of the diode, the laser beam will be diffused. The beam should spread across the base so
that it’s hitting the object and the holographic film plate. Here’s why:
The waves of light that are emitted from the laser are all of a single wavelength and they’re
all in phase with each other. This is unlike a regular light bulb, which emits different
wavelengths that are not in phase with each other. Now let’s look at a red LED. It may
be emitting light of the same wavelength, but the waves aren’t all lined up like they
are from a laser, in other words, they’re not in phase.
The part of the laser beam that hits the holographic plate directly is called the reference beam.
The part of the beam that hits the object is called the object beam. The holographic
film plate is sensitive to the intensity and the direction of the light as it hits the
plate and records the interference pattern between the reference beam and the light bouncing
off the object. I’ll link you to more information about how that works in the description. Let’s
get on with how to make our hologram.
In a room that can get pretty dark, set up your hologram kit. It’s important to know
that these hologram exposures are very sensitive to vibration, so choose a sturdy table to
work on. Turn on the laser and let it warm up for about five minutes. While you’re
waiting, line up the object and use the the glass plate to make sure that the laser beam
will hit both the object and the film plate evenly. Remove the glass plate, and place
the black card in front of the beam to act as our shutter. Darken your room and use the
LED included with the kit as a safelight. Since the film plates are sensitive to red
light, the blue light won’t affect the exposure.
Remove a holographic film plate from the box and place it in the base.
Be sure to close up the box with the rest of the film plates before proceeding. Again,
be aware that the process is very sensitive to the smallest vibrations including sounds,
so after placing the holographic film plate in the base, let everything settle down for
a couple minutes.
Very carefully remove the black card so that the exposure can begin. Again, don’t make
any noise or vibrations. Your exposure time will vary, but start with about 5 minutes,
but it could take up to 15 minutes to get a good exposure. You’ll just have to try
and see what works best for you.
After five to fifteen minutes, very carefully replace the black card and remove the object.
Then let the beam hit the holographic plate again and you should see your hologram. If
not, you may need to try again ensuring that there are no vibrations and possibly increasing
your exposure time.
An here’s a soldier figurine next to its hologram. Can you tell which is which?
So that’s how to make your own hologram. Pretty cool, huh?