Dependence of space charge field and gain coefficient on the applied electric field in photorefractive materials

Intensity dependent space charge field and gain coefficient in the photorefractive medium due to the two interfering beams have been calculated by solving the material rate equations in presence of externally applied dc electric field. The gain coefficient has been studied with respect to variations in the input intensity, modulation depth, concentration ratio and normalized diffusion field in the absence and presence of the externally applied dc electric field. Space charge field has also been computed by varying the intensity ratio in the presence and absence of the externally applied dc electric field. It has been found that the rate of change of the space charge field with the normalized dc field decreases with the increasing intensity ratio for different values of the normalized diffusion field. It has also been found that the externally applied dc electric field has appreciable effect only when it is larger than the diffusion field.