Diffraction of light by phase holograms in photorefractive ferroelectric crystals

The kinematic approximation is used in an investigation of the theoretical solution of the problem of diffraction of arbitrarily polarized light waves by static volume phase holograms in uniaxial crystals. The diffusion, drift in a field, and photogalvanic mechanisms of photorefraction are allowed for and no restrictions are imposed on the orientation of the optic axis of a crystal. Several special cases are considered for crystals of the symmetry classes 3m and 4mm when measurements of the intensity of the diffracted radiation can be used to estimate the contribution of the various mechanisms to the process of formation of a hologram and the conditions are established for the reconstruction of the polarization of an arbitrarily polarized object wave.