Rh-doped LiNbO3 as an improved new material for reversible holographic storage

Abstract

A poled single crystal of LiNbO₃ doped with Rh as a new impurity is described in terms of its storage performance in producing high‐efficiency simple phase holograms. Doping with Rh introduces a new absorption band peaking around 4880 Å, and dramatically improves the recording sensitivity, diffraction efficiency, erasing sensitivity, and persistence of holograms over the undoped crystal. Anomalous optical erasure, possibly due to self‐enhancement of the hologram, is also observed in our doped crystal.