Thermally stimulated current and photorefractivity of bismuth silicon oxide and bismuth germanium oxide

Nominally undoped crystals of bismuth silicon oxide and bismuth germanium oxide have been grown by the Czochralski method and characterized by thermally stimulated current (TSC) spectroscopy and optical grating erasing techniques. TSC spectra from crystal samples of the same boule were found to be highly reproducible and varied only moderately among platelets from different boules. In contrast, the protorefractive parameters determined from grating erasing experiments varied drastically even among samples from the same boule. © 1991.