Abstract
We propose and experimentally investigate a new scheme capable of suppressing light-induced scattering by periodical incoherent erasure during every non-volatile holographic recording cycle in photochromic LiNbO3:Fe:Mn crystals. The results demonstrate that the scattering noise is suppressed effectively, and the final diffraction efficiency of the fixed grating is significantly enhanced, rather than decreased, by about 30% compared with the conventional recording procedure. The period of the recording and incoherent erasure cycle is theoretically calculated and experimentally optimized.