Two-color holographic recording in nondoped near-stoichiometric lithium tantalate with continuous-wave lasers

Nonvolatile two-color holographic recording was demonstrated in as-grown nondoped SLT crystals with a high sensitivity of 0.086 cm/J with a gating intensity of 1 W/cm(2) at 350 nm, a large refractive index change of as much as 1 x 10(-4), a high resistance to IR erasure and a long hologram lifetime of five years. Dependences of two-color sensitivity and dynamic range on gating and writing intensities are presented. The sensitivity can be further enhanced using writing and gating beams of shorter wavelength without sacrificing readout nonvolatility. 50 plane-wave holograms are angle-multiplexed with M/# of 0.95.