The dynamic range, sensitivity and dark decay of holographic recording in LiNbO_3 crystals doped with 0.2 atomic% Mn with different oxidation states have been measured. The sensitivity is 0.5 cm/J and found to be independent of the oxidation states, while the largest M/# obtained is 12/mm (extraordinary light polarization, light wavelength 458 nm). The dark decay time constants of non-fixed holograms stored in these LiNbO_3:Mn crystals obey an Arrhenius-type dependence on the absolute temperature with an activation energy of about 1.0 eV, and the dark decay is several orders of magnitude slower than that of LiNbO_3:Fe with comparable doping levels. In contrast to LiNbO_3:Fe, the dominant dark decay mechanism in highly-doped LiNbO_3:Mn crystals is due to proton compensation rather than electron tunneling.
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