Abstract

For the first time to our knowledge, photorefractive effects have been observed in the ultraviolet spectral region in undoped crystals of Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂. For the investigation of the photorefractive properties we performed holographic experiments, and we further investigated fundamental properties, such as the photoconductivity and the dispersion of the electro-optic coefficients. Gain coefficients greatly exceeding the absorption losses and recording time constants ≈30 ms were observed in two-wave-mixing experiments with ultraviolet light in the 330–350-nm spectral region at a 0.5W/cm² power level. The charge carriers primarily involved in charge transport are holes.

© 1992 Optical Society of America

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