Developing photorefractive glass composites

The production of a transparent photorefractive glass composite would offer a useful alternative to bulk crystal materials. We aim to produce such a material by incorporating single domain photorefractive Fe:LiNbO3 particles into a refractive index matched glass host. This glass host is also required to be chemically compatible with the photorefractive material. This compatibility will ensure that the Fe:LiNbO3 particles added to the host glass will remain in the intended crystalline phase and not simply dissolve in the glass. Due to the high refractive index of the Fe:LiNbO3 (n(0) = 2.35 @532nm), producing a chemically compatible and. refractive index matched glass host is technically challenging, By examining common Tellurite, Bismuthate, and Gallate glasses([1-4]) as a starting point and then developing new and hybrid glasses, we have succeeded in producing a chemically compatible glass host and also a refractive index matched glass host. We have produced preliminary glass composite samples which contain a large amount of Fe:LiNbO3. We are currently able to retain nearly 90% of the incorporated Fe:LiNbO3 in the correct crystalline phase, a substantial improvement over previous work conducted in this area in recent years.([5,6]).