Nonvolatile photorefractive holograms in LiNbO3 : Cu : Ce crystals

We report experimental and theoretical studies of nonvolatile photorefracti ve holographic recording in LiNbO3:Cu:Ce crystals with two illumination sch emes: (1) UV light for sensitization and a red interfering pattern for reco rding and (2) blue light for sensitization and a red pattern for recording. The results show that the oxidized LiNbO3:Cu:Ce crystals can provide high, persistent refractive-index modulation with weak lightinduced scattering. The optimal working conditions and the prescription for doping and oxidatio n-reduction processing that yields the maximum refractive-index modulation are discussed. (C) 2000 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 050.7330, 19 0.5330, 090.2900.