Abstract

We experimentally study hologram recording and photoconduction in photorefractive single crystals of Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (BSO) from different origins using 3-ns optical pulses. In our experiments, we write a phase grating using the interference of two laser beams in the sample. The photoexcited charge carriers migrate by diffusion or drift creating a space charge field that modulates the refraction index by the electrooptic effect. Therefore, it is a nonlocal effect that becomes efficient only after charge migration. The hologram recording characteristics (sensitivity, rise time) are directly controlled by charge excitation and migration that we studied by looking at the induced photocurrent.

© 1986 Optical Society of America