Abstract

The polarization properties of diffraction from volume phase gratings in photorefractive sillenite crystals such as bismuth silicon oxide (Bi₁₂SiO₂₀), bismuth germanium oxide (Bi₁₂GeO₂₀), and bismuth titanium oxide (Bi₁₂TiO₂₀) are strongly modified by the presence of concomitant natural optical activity and electric-field-induced linear birefringence. A set of coupled-wave equations that characterize the Bragg regime has been derived for the 〈110〉 and the 〈001〉 crystallographic orientations typically employed in volume holographic storage and multiwave-mixing applications. The predicted anisotropic behavior of the grating diffraction is experimentally confirmed, and a significant efficiency improvement is shown to occur for proper choice of the operating mode and the probe beam polarization in a given configuration.

© 1986 Optical Society of America

Efficiency and polarization characteristics of photorefractive diffraction in a Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ crystal

S. Mallick, D. Rouède, and A. G. Apostolidis
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 4(8) 1247-1259 (1987)

Polarization properties of self-diffraction in sillenite crystals: reflection volume gratings

S. Mallick, M. Miteva, and L. Nikolova
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Cross-polarization two-beam coupling in optically active photorefractive media

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Exact solution of the Bragg-diffraction problem in sillenites

B. I. Sturman, D. J. Webb, R. Kowarschik, E. Shamonina, and K. H. Ringhofer
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Effects of optical activity on photorefractive spatial solitons in a biased Bi₁₂TiO₂₀ crystal

S. R. Singh and D. N. Christodoulides
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 13(4) 719-724 (1996)