Photorefractive trapping and the correlation between recording and erasure dynamics in a polymer composite

Summary form only given. The maximum value of the induced space charge field in photorefractive materials is limited by the gradient with which the local net charge density can change through the medium, and the net charge density is limited by the density of traps. Rapid spatial variation of the electric field is only possible with a high trap density. A bi-exponential fitting function was used to determine the fast time constants of holographic contrast growth and erasure curves, for poly(N-vinylcarbazole)-based photorefractive polymer composites with one of the sensitizers 2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenone or (2,4,7-trinitro-9-fluorenylidene) malonodinitrile.