Diffraction and Mixing of Light Waves on a Reflection Holographic Grating in a Cubic Photorefractive Crystal

Abstract

The patterns of diffraction and mixing of light waves on a phase reflection holographic grating formed in a cubic photorefractive crystal of (001)-cut have been studied. The mechanism of restoration and amplification of an object light wave during counter-propagating two-wave mixing in crystals of 23 and symmetry classes has been analyzed. The conditions of a holographic experiment in which the highest values of the reflection-hologram diffraction efficiency and the object-wave relative intensity were achieved were considered. It was shown that the conditions for achieving the highest object-wave intensity in crystals of symmetry classes 23 and $\overline{4}3\text{m}$ differ significantly, which was due to the influence of natural optical activity inherent in non-centrosymmetric crystals.