Physics of Photorefraction in Polymers

Describes the understanding of the physical processes that combine to produce a photorefractive effect in key, representative composite materials. This book summarizes the model of photorefraction as applied to polymers with high diffraction efficiency. It explores applications that supercede the capabilities of photorefractive crystals.
Photorefractive polymer composites are an unusually sensitive class of photopolymers. Physics of Photorefraction in Polymers describes our current understanding of the physical processes that produce a photorefractive effect in key composite materials. Topics as diverse as charge generation, dispersive charge transport, charge compensation and trapping, molecular diffusion, organic composite structure, and nonlinear optical wave coupling are all developed from a physical perspective. Emphasis is placed on explaining how these physical processes lead to observable properties of the polymers, and the authors discuss various applications, including holographic archiving.