Doped ZnTe: a Developmental Photorefractive Material

Zinc telluride is a semiconductive material that has been found to become photorefractive when it is suitably doped with vanadium or with manganese and vanadium. The combination of photorefractivity and semiconductivity make this material attractive for use in a variety of applications, including optical power limiting (for shielding eyes or delicate sensors against intense illumination), holographic interferometry, providing reconfigurable optical interconnections for optical computing and optical communication, and correcting for optical distortions and combining laser powers via phase conjugation. In comparison with other important photorefractive materials based on III-V and II-VI binary compounds, ZnTe:V offers superior photorefractive performance at wavelengths from 0.6 to 1.3 μm.