The steady-state and transient characteristic analysis of thermal fixing a photorefractive hologram grating in lithium niobate

The transient interaction between a refraction index grating and light beams during simultaneous writing and thermal fixing of a photorefractive hologram is investigated. With a diffusion- and photovoltaic-dominated carrier transport mechanism and carrier thermal activation (temperature dependent) considered in Fe:LiNbO3 crystal, from the standpoint of field–material coupling, the theoretical thermal fixing time and the space-charge field buildup, spatial distribution, and temperature dependence are given numerically by combining the band transport model with mobile ions with the coupled-wave equation. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 23: 372–376, 1999.