Photorefractive and Photovoltaic Effects in Doped LiNbO 3

Photo-induced currents and voltages determine the photorefractive process in doped LiNbO 3, which can be utilized for the reversible storage of thick phase holograms. Optical recording and erasure are studied in the spectral region between 1·5 and 4 eV (lambda; = 0·8 ? 0·3 μm). The influence of various transition metal dopants, chemical treatments, temperature and external electric fields on the storage properties is investigated. The results yield consequences for write-read-erase applications and for read-only storage of stacked phase holograms.