Photorefractive Bi12SiO20 Crystal Research Articles

Influence of Photoelastic and Piezoelectric Effects on the Energetic Characteristics of Transmission and Reflection Holograms in a Photorefractive Crystal

The surface of the normal component of the inverse tensor of the dielectric permittivity of a cubic photorefractive piezoelectric Bi12SiO20 crystal was constructed. A volume phase holographic grating with a wave vector along the $$ \left[1\overline{1}1\right] $$ crystallographic axis was recorded in this crystal. It is established that the combined action of the photoelastic and piezoelectric effects leads to an increasing normal component of the inverse tensor of the dielectric permittivity along the $$ \left[1\overline{1}1\right] $$ direction and a decreasing normal component of the inverse tensor of the dielectric permittivity in the perpendicular direction. It is revealed that the anisotropy of the contribution of the photoelastic and piezoelectric effects causes an increase in the output energetic characteristics (optimized in the azimuth of polarization of light waves) for the transmission hologram and their decrease for the reflection hologram.

Dependences of the Diffraction Efficiency of Photorefractive Holograms on the Sample Thickness and Orientation Angle in a (ī ī 0)-cut Bi12SiO20 Crystal

We present the results of experimental studies of the dependence of the diffraction efficiency of nonoblique transmission holograms formed in the sample of a (īī0)-cut photorefractive piezoelectric Bi12SiO20 crystal on the sample thickness and orientation angle of the grating vector at two fixed mutually orthogonal orientations of the linear polarization vector of the reading beam. It is shown that only if along with optical activity of the crystal, the electrooptic, inverse piezoelectric, and photoelastic effects are taken into account in the analytical diffraction model, it is possible to carry out satisfactory theoretical interpretation of the experimental data.

Digital holographic microscopy with photorefractive sillenite Bi12SiO20 crystals

In this work, we demonstrated by first time that image digital holographic microscopy can be instrumented using photorefractive sillenite Bi12SiO20 (BSO) crystals in diffusion regime as holographic recording medium. The writing–reading holographic process in photorefractive BSO crystal and this holographic reconstructed image is combined to form the image hologram with the second reference beam in CCD plane in the Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The system was tested using a micro scale object and 3D phase image is calculated by performing digital reconstruction using only one hologram.

Energy enhancement in time-reversed ultrasonically encoded optical focusing using a photorefractive polymer

Time-reversed ultrasonically encoded (TRUE) optical focusing achieves light focusing into scattering media beyond one transport mean free path, which is desirable in biomedical optics. However, the focused optical energy needs to be increased for broad applications. Here, we report the use of a photorefractive polymer (PRP) as the phase conjugate mirror in TRUE optical focusing. The PRP boosted the focused optical energy by ~40 times in comparison to the previously used photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal. As a result, we successfully imaged absorbing objects embedded in the middle plane of a tissue-mimicking phantom having an optical thickness of 120 scattering mean free paths.

A photosensitive Cr3+ center in photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystals co-doped with chromium and phosphorus

A trigonal Cr3+ (3d3) defect in sillenite type Bi12SiO20 crystals co-doped with chromium and phosphorus has been identified by means of multi-frequency X-band (9.4 GHz), Q-band (35 GHz) and W-band (94 GHz) electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). A consistent analysis of the observed spectra and their angular dependence was reached using an S = 3/2 spin Hamiltonian with axial symmetry around a 〈111〉 crystallographic direction, an isotropic g-value g = 1.983, and a zero field splitting parameter B20 = 0.1950 cm−1. The spectra are attributed to a chromium ion in the unusual Cr3+ valence replacing a substitutional Si4+ in tetrahedral oxygen coordination. Evidence is found that the symmetry lowering from tetrahedral to trigonal is not spontaneous but induced by an associated defect, for which a P5+ ion in a nearest-neighbor Si4+ site is the most plausible candidate. Optical excitation results in a reversible charge transfer process directly correlated with a photochromic effect: near-UV light leads to a strong reduction of the Cr3+ EPR signals, and induces a broad band at 675 nm in the absorption spectrum, and both effects are reversed under red light excitation.

Phase-shifting real-time holographic interferometry applied to load transmission evaluation in dried human skull

Phase-shifting real-time holography with photorefractive Bi(12)SiO(20) crystal as holographic recording medium applied to load transmission evaluation and tension dissipation on a dried human skull under loading is presented. The applied loading stands as a simulation of isolated contraction (SIC) of some masticatories muscles. The four-frames phase-shifting technique and the unwrapping branch-cut technique were used to obtain the phase map. The quantitative results show the feasibility of the employed system in the study of microdisplacements in the skull structure provided by SIC.

Space-and-time current spectroscopy of wide-gap semiconductors

We report space-and-time current spectroscopy for characterization of wide-gap semiconductors. The approach is based on the illumination of semiconductor material with an oscillating interference pattern formed of two light waves, one of which is phase modulated with frequency ω. The non-steady-state photocurrent flowing through the short-circuited semiconductor is the measurable quantity in this technique. The alternating current results from the periodic relative shifts of the photoconductivity and space charge electric field gratings which arise in the volume of the crystal under illumination. The experiments are carried out in photorefractive n-type Bi12SiO20, molecular SnS2 and pyrolytic crystal of BN and the main parameters of the photoinduced carriers are determined.

Ultraslow Gaussian pulse propagation induced by a dispersive phase coupling in photorefractive bismuth silicon oxide crystals at room temperature

By use of the highly dispersive phase coupling effect in a photorefractive wave mixing process, we have observed ultraslow propagation of a single Gaussian light pulse with a group velocity ∼0.5m/s in a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal at room temperature. The ultraslow Gaussian pulse is amplified due to an intensity coupling effect but keeping its Gaussian profile with high fidelity. The group velocity of the Gaussian pulse can be controlled to a large extent. This technique is useful for controllable optical delay lines.

Transition between superluminal and subluminal light propagation in photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystals

We demonstrated superluminal light propagation with a negative group velocity of -5.7 m/s in a photorefractive Bi 12SiO20 crystal by using the dispersive phase coupling effect in a nondegenerate two-wave mixing process. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first experimental demonstration of superluminal light propagation at room temperature in solids by using a classical wave mixing technique. In addition, we showed the tunability of the group velocity of light between the negative (superluminal light) and the positive (subluminal light) by simply tuning the experimental conditions such as the frequency of the coupling beam, the incident intensity, and the externally applied electric fields.

Phase-Coupling-Induced Ultraslow Light Propagation in Solids at Room Temperature

We show that the group velocities of light pulses can be decelerated dramatically by the use of a dispersive phase-coupling effect through a wave mixing process. We have observed experimentally such a phase-coupling-induced ultraslow light propagation with a group velocity as low as 0.05 m/s in a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal at room temperature. Moreover, the ultraslow light is amplified in the Bi12SiO20 crystal because of the unidirectional energy transfer from a coupling beam to the ultraslow light. This technique to produce ultraslow light propagation is valid for all nonlinear wave mixing processes with a dispersive phase-coupling effect.

Interaction of running gratings of the space charge and conductivity in photorefractive Bi12Si(Ti)O20 crystals

The simultaneous excitation and nonlinear interaction of the space-charge and photoconductivity gratings are studied experimentally in photorefractive Bi12SiO20 and Bi12TiO20. The measurements are performed using the diffraction technique, which implies the illumination of the crystal by an oscillating interference pattern (λr=532 nm) along with the application of dc and ac electric fields and detection of the diffracted probe beam (λp=650 nm). Such illumination excites the running photoconductivity grating, which interacts with the ac component of the applied field giving rise to the space-charge wave. Being the eigenmode of the space-charge oscillations, this wave reveals itself as a low-frequency resonant maximum at the frequency-transfer function of the detected signal. The drift mobilities of electrons are estimated using the developed technique: μ=(1.1–1.4) ×10-2 cm2/V s (Bi12SiO20, T=296–298 K) and μ=2.8×10-3 cm2/V s (Bi12TiO20, T=293 K).

Nonlinear interaction of moving space-charge and photoconductivity gratings in Bi12SiO20 crystal

A nonlinear interaction of moving space-charge and photoconductivity gratings is experimentally investigated. In the presence of a dc electric field, a crystal is irradiated with an oscillating interference pattern with a spatial frequency K and an oscillation frequency ω. An ac electric field with a frequency \gM is also applied to the sample. At certain frequencies ω and \gM, the crystal exhibits two types of interacting oscillations: the space-charge grating moving with velocity |ω−Ω|/K and the photoconductivity grating moving with velocity −ω/K. The effect is studied using the method of the nonstationary photoelectromotive force in a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal.

Effect of higher order nonlinear optical processes on optical absorption in the photorefractive BSO and BGO crystals

The processes of nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption are studied in the photorefractive Bi12SiO20 (BSO) and Bi12GeO20 (BGO) crystals at a wavelength of a picosecond Nd:YAG laser of 1064 nm. The nonlinear refraction in the crystals is shown to be related to the Kerr effect, and the nonlinear absorption at this wavelength, to three-photon absorption. The three-photon absorption coefficients of the BSO and BGO crystals are equal, respectively, to (2.5±0.8) ×10−20 and (4.4±1.3) ×10−20 cm3W−2.

Optical correlation of spatial-frequency-shifted images in a photorefractive BSO correlator.

The optical cross correlation of an image with another image that was spatial-frequency shifted in one dimension was demonstrated in a photorefractive VanderLugt correlator. The first image was stored as a Fourier-transform hologram in a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal (BSO) and was successively correlated with different spatial-frequency-shifted versions of a second image. We implemented the spatial-frequency shift by rotating a galvanometer mirror in an image plane, causing the Fourier transform to be shifted laterally in the BSO. We verified that the resulting operation in the BSO was an accurate complex multiplication of the shifted and the stored Fourier transforms. As many as 20 successive readouts were conducted without measurable erasure of the stored hologram. The dynamic range, saturation behavior, and other performance parameters were measured and are discussed.

Three-Photon Absorption in Photorefractive BSO and BGO Crystals

The possibility of optical limitation of picosecond laser radiation in photorefractive Bi12SiO20 (BSO) and Bi12GeO20 (BGO) crystals at a wavelength of 1064 nm has been demonstrated. It is shown that the mechanism determining the process of optical limitation is three-photon absorption. The coefficients of three-photon absorption have been determined by the Z-scanning method.

Study of nonlinear-optical characteristics of photorefractive BSO and BGO crystals

Nonlinear refraction, nonlinear absorption, and optical limitation are studied in Bi12SiO20 (BSO) and Bi12GeO20(BGO) crystals at the 532-nm emission wavelength of a picosecond Nd : YAG laser.

Slowdown of group velocity of light by means of phase coupling in photorefractive two-wave mixing.

We show theoretically that the group velocity of light can be slowed down by means of phase coupling in the photorefractive two-wave mixing process. It is shown that the group velocity of light propagating in a photorefractive material could be significantly reduced because of a steep variation of the phase-coupling coefficient with respect to the angular frequency difference between two coupling beams in a two-wave mixing process. The results for the case of a photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal are presented and discussed in detail.

(2+1)-dimensional soliton formation in photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystals.

(2+1)-dimensional spatial solitons in Bi12SiO20 (BSO) photorefractive crystals with large optical activity are experimentally demonstrated. The soliton formation when a Gaussian beam is injected at the input has been previously analyzed numerically and then experimentally investigated. We demonstrate analytically, numerically, and experimentally that by applying static electric biases of high values, the polarization rotation accelerates: this acceleration prevents the beam from broadening if the polarization rotation period becomes shorter than the diffraction length. Contemporary to this nonlinear optical activity, an induced birefringence affects the beam polarization state. Analysis of the polarization dynamics shows that the polarization changes nonuniformly across the beam (with a field dependent speed) until about 30-35 kV/cm; above this limit, the whole beam has just one polarization state. Representation on the Poincaré sphere of the polarization dynamics reveals the existence of a stable polarization trajectory closed around a polarization attractor that depends on the linear optical activity and on the photorefractive nonlinearity. The experimental soliton is well described by the analytical solutions already obtained [Fazio et al., Phys. Rev. E 66, 016605 (2002)].

Manifestation of long-lived photosensitivity gratings in two-wave mixing experiments with sillenite crystals

Transient recording dynamics and hologram fixing and retrieval were observed in photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal in two-wave mixing experiments under an ac electric field. These effects were explained by the light- and space-charge-induced spatial modulation of sample photoconductivity originating from the nonequilibrium initial population of relevant photoactive levels. Such a photosensitivity grating exhibits a relaxation time of several hours even when the crystal is illuminated by a spatially uniform light beam. Thus we have shown for what is the first time to our knowledge that optical information can be stored in a photoconductive crystal as a spatially modulated photosensitivity rather than in the form of a space charge.

Choice of optimal conditions for light diffraction and two-wave interaction in a cubic photorefractive piezoelectric Bi12SiO20 crystal

The maximum and minimum diffraction efficiencies and the effective amplification of a hologram are studied experimentally in a 2.1 mm thick, (1̄1̄0) cut Bi12SiO20 crystal as functions of the orientation angle formed by the vector of a holographic grating with the crystallographic direction [001]. A comparison is made between the orientation dependences of the polarisation azimuths at which the extrema of the diffraction efficiency and of the effective amplification are achieved. It is shown that the polarisation azimuths of the reading light corresponding to the maximum diffraction efficiency and the maximum effective amplification coincide within the orientation angles 0 — 90° and 270 — 360° and differ by 90° in the range 90 — 270°.