Over the past several years a new class of holographic materials, based on the bistability of a type of crystal defect known at the DX center, has been explored from both a fundamental physics and an applications perspective [1-4]. In this paper we report the results of recent experiments on the latest member of this group, CdF_2 doped with gallium. This material, like the others in the DX group, supports optically-written erasable phase-gratings. Unlike it's predecessor DX materials (doped III-V and II-VI compound semiconductors) however, CdF_2 can be grown in large (cm sized) high-optical quality samples and, more importantly, supports stable holograms at non-cryogenic temperatures accessible using simple Peltier-effect coolers.
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