Photoelectrical characterization of photorefractive organic systems

One challenge for photorefractive organic materials is to overcome the problem of their relatively low speed. The latter may be caused by either the photoelectric properties of the material or by the reorientation of nonlinear optical chromophores in a space-charge field. This contribution focuses on the first aspect. Using holographic and pulsed experiments, we determine the charge carrier mobility in a bifunctional glass. A comparison of both techniques shows the critical influence of several parameters, such as the concentration of the photoconductor and the sample thickness, on the photoelectric properties of the material.