Self-enhancement of dynamic gratings in photogalvanic crystals

We have developed a compact closed-form solution of the band transport model for high-contrast gratings in photogalvanic crystals. Our solution predicts the effect of the photoconductivity and the electric field grating enhancement due to the photogalvanic effect. We predict a pronounced dependence of the steady-state photogalvanic current on the contrast of the interference pattern and an increase of holographic storage time due to the enhancement of the photoconductivity grating contrast. In the high contrast Limit and a large photogalvanic effect the refractive index grating will be shifted from the position of the intensity modulation pattern, contrary to the usually adopted model of unshifted gratings. [S1050-2947(98)03610-5].