REVEALING 180-DEGREES DOMAINS IN FERROELECTRIC CRYSTALS BY PHOTOREFRACTIVE BEAM COUPLING

摘要

We describe a simple, optical technique for mapping 180 degrees domains hidden inside photorefractive crystals. We intersect two coherent light beams in the crystal. Photorefractive coupling between the two beams causes one beam to emerge with a map of all the crystal's 180 degrees domains imprinted upon it. We tested many BaTiO3 crystals and found that they all contained 180 degrees domains, with the relative volume of these domains varying from 25% to 0.1%. (C) 1996 Optical Society of America [References: 10]