Photorefractive scattering in bulk periodically poled lithium niobate

Abstract

We report a new species of self-organised light-induced scattering, appearing only in bulk periodically poled lithium niobate. Clearly defined diffracted beams develop on exposure to 532 nm light from a frequency-doubled, Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YAG laser. The structure thus created also diffracts light at 1064 nm. The effect is strongly dependent on temperature, the polarization state of the light and the period of domain reversal. It exhibits a sharply defined nonlinear threshold at which the far-field pattern of the diffracted light evolves rapidly