Abstract

Photorefractive dynamics are typically described by the material equations referred to as the Kukhtarev Equations. In dimensionless form these equations are given by where time is scaled to τ = ε/eμN_A, length to λ/(4πn sin θ/2), and density to N_A. N is the carrier density, N is the ionized donor density, N_D is the donor density, E is the electric field, 1_D is the Debye screening length, f is the excitation rate, and γ is the recombination coefficient. The space charge field responsible for the photorefractive grating is given by These equations are inherently nonlinear, and cannot, in general, be integrated analytically. In order to do so, the equations are linearized with the anticipation that higher order terms are not significant. Recent work, however, has demonstrated that under certain conditions, typical of many experiments, the linearization of these equations is not appropriate. For those cases, any connection between model and experiment becomes quite difficult.

© 1996 Optical Society of America