Photorefractive Materials and Their Applications 2

Jean-Pierre Huignard, PhD, earned the engineer diploma in optical science from Ecole Superieure d'Optique and a doctorate in physical science from Paris-Orsay University. He currently serves as Senior Scientist at Thales. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America and received a prize from the French Academy of Sciences.

This second volume of the series on photorefractive effects focuses on the most recent developments in the field and highlights the parameters which govern the photoinduced nonlinearity. Besides reviewing conventional electro-optic crystals, this book deals with organic photorefractive materials, giving an in-depth assessment of the present understanding of the effect in a variety of materials. The materials considered in this volume will play a significant role in the development of applications such as presented in the third volume.

This second volume of the series focuses on recent developments in the field and highlights the parameters governing photoinduced nonlinearity. Besides reviewing conventional electro-optic crystals, it assesses present understanding of the effect in a variety of organic photorefractive materials.

Great progress has been made in the field recently in term of material sensitivity and efficiency under applied electric field. It is undoubtedly a class of material of growing interest. A closely related field is the photorefractive effect in liquid crystals materials, which exhibit attractive perspectives due to their large photoinduced index modulation. This volume gives an in depth review of the present understanding of the fundamental origins of the effect in a variety of materials. All of the materials considered will play a significant role in the development of applications presented in the third volume of this series. The contribution of the material is decisive for new progress in the field of photorefractive nonlinear optics. It is therefore most important to stimulate significant efforts of research on the basic physical phenomena in different materials. These research achievements may contribute to the discovery of a new class of photorefractive material.

Defects in Inorganic Photorefractive Materials and Their Investigations.- Recording Speed and Determination of Basic Materials Properties.- Photorefractive Effects in LiNbO3 and LiTaO3.- Growth and Photorefractive Properties of Stoichiometric LiNbO3 and LiTaO3.- Optical Damage Resistance in Lithium Niobate.- Photorefractive Effects in KNbO3.- Photorefractive Properties of BaTiO3.- Space-Charge Waves in Sillenites: Rectification and Second-Harmonic Generation.- Photorefractive Effects in Sn2P2S6.- Photorefractive Semiconductors and Quantum-Well Structures.- Recent Progress in Semiconductor Photorefractive Crystals.- Amorphous Organic Photorefractive Materials.- Organic Photorefractive Materials and Their Applications.- Photosensitivity and Treatments for Enhancing the Photosensitivity of Silica-Based Glasses and Fibers.- Photorefractive Effects in Liquid Crystals.- Photorefractive Effects in Organic Photochromic Materials.