Growth and photorefractive properties of Zn, Fe double-doped LiTaO3 crystal

Zn, Fe double-doped LiTaO3 crystals have been grown by the Czochralski method. The photorefractive properties and optical damage resistance were measured by the two-beam coupling experiments and transmitted facula distortion method, respectively. The results showed that the photorefractive response speed of Zn:Fe:LiTaO3 was about four times faster than that of Fe:LiTaO3, whereas the optical damage resistance was two orders of magnitude higher than that of Fe:LiTaO3. In this paper, site occupation mechanism of impurities was also discussed to explain the high optical damage resistance and fast response speed of Zn:Fe:LiTaO3 crystal.