Enhanced nonvolatile holographic properties in Zn, Ru and Fe co-doped LiNbO3 crystals

A series of LiNbO3 crystals doped with various concentrations of ZnO and fixed concentrations of RuO2 and Fe2O3 have been grown by the Czochralski method from the congruent melts. The type of charge carriers was determined by Kr+ laser (476 nm) and He–Ne laser (633 nm). The results revealed that the holes were the dominant charge carriers at blue light irradiation. Dual-wavelength and two-color techniques were employed to investigate the nonvolatile holographic storage properties of Ru:Fe:LiNbO3 and Zn doped Ru:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals. The essential parameters of blue nonvolatile holographic storage in Zn:Ru:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals were enhanced greatly with the increase of Zn concentration. This indicates that the damage resistant dopants Zn2+ ions enhance the photorefractive properties at 476 nm wavelength instead of suppressing the photorefraction. The different mechanisms of blue photorefractive and nonvolatile holographic storage properties by dual wavelength recording in Zn:Ru:Fe:LiNbO3 crystals were discussed.