Sensitivity of hologram recording in photorefractive media

Abstract

An expression is given for the sensitivity of hologram recording in photorefractive media, such as LiNbO3, in the presence of absorption. The energy density required to produce a given diffraction efficiency is given by a material constant multiplied by a function of efficiency and optical density of the crystal. The conditions for optimum efficiency are derived. Some published sensitivities are higher than predicted by theory.