Abstract

We discuss the ever-expanding applications of photorefractive materials. Recent demonstrations include the use of the photorefractive crystals barium titanate and strontium barium niobate as (1) an optical mixer to perform real-time computation of optical images, such as in a novelty filter, which displays whatever is changing in an optical scene, or a boring filter, which displays whatever Is stationary in an optical scene, as viewed by either a conventional TV camera or a microscope; (2) photorefractive time correlators, which display any temporal correlations between two rapidly changing optical or electrical signals; (3) double-phase conjugators that use a variety of geometries to exchange Image information between two optical beams that are not coherent with each other; (4) frequency controllers and stabilizers for tunable dye lasers; (5) a model system for studying stimulated scattering, which exhibits a rich variety of physical effects, and on a time scale ideal for analysis.

© 1988 Optical Society of America