Unified approach to the formation of phase holograms in ferroelectric crystals

Abstract

The description of the formation of thick‐phase holograms over the entire range of exposures has been accomplished using numerical methods. The internal electric field distributions (and thus the refractive‐index profiles for linear electro‐optic crystals) generated through diffusion and through drift of charge carriers are calculated. The treatment allows for the presence of an effective electric field due to the photovoltaic effect and an externally applied electric field. The results of this approach reduce to the existing analytic expressions for the limiting cases of the initial and the steady‐state stages of hologram formation. This approach establishes the limits of validity for the analytic expressions in terms of exposure and material parameters.