Effect of optical activity and crystal symmetry on maximal diffraction efficiency of reflection holograms in cubic photorefractive piezocrystals

The dependence of the maximal diffraction efficiency of a volume reflection hologram recorded in a cubic optically active photorefractive piezocrystal on the crystal thickness is investigated. The theoretical analysis is fulfilled on the basis of the coupled wave equations in a static grating approximation taking into account the linear electro-optic, inverse piezoelectric, and photoelastic effects. The optimal cuts of the crystals with various thickness for which the maximal diffraction efficiency of the reflection hologram can be attained are determined. It is shown that the optical activity of the crystal is responsible for a variety of the optimal cuts corresponding to different crystal thicknesses. Effect of the crystal on the dependence of the maximal diffraction efficiency of the reflection hologram on a crystal cut is discussed.