Research in Photorefractive Crystals

Abstract

Research into a number of aspects of photorefractive materials and holographic data storage is reported, including growth and characterization of optically nonlinear crystals and study of the physical mechanisms involved in holographic data storage and in permanent fixing of these holograms. We have established that ionic conductivity is the main mechanism responsible for the decay of fixed holograms in photorefractive crystals such as Lithium Niobate, and have achieved a significant increase in the hologram lifetime by reducing the OH density in the crystal by a factor of 100. The double phase conjugate mirror (DPCM) was investigated and a number of numerical studies were devoted to its detailed understanding. We demonstrated that optical beams are self-focused and self-trapped upon photopolymerization. We observed that optical interference patterns generate dynamic and remnant domain holograms in ferroelectric crystals such as SBN:75 near the ferroelectric/paraelectric phase transition.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 15, 1999
Accession Number
ADA369949

Entities

People

  • A. Kewitsch
  • D. Engin
  • R. Hofmeister
  • S. Orlov
  • X.-l. Tong

Organizations

  • California Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Conductivity
  • Crystals
  • Data Storage Systems
  • Ferroelectric Crystals
  • Ferroelectric Domains
  • Heat Of Activation
  • Lithium Niobates
  • Materials
  • Optical Materials
  • Optical Properties
  • Optics
  • Phase Transformations
  • Photorefractive Materials
  • Piezoceramics
  • Space Charge
  • Transition Temperature
  • Transitions

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.