Nonequilibrium screening of the photorefractive effect

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Abstract
The nonequilibrium occupation of multiple defect states in inhomogeneously illuminated crystals is demonstrated to have dramatic and previously unexpected consequences for the photorefractive behavior of electro-optic semiconductors. By using a simple screening formalism, we show for the first time that the standard photorefractive effect can be partially or entirely quenched. This nonequilibrium screening is observed in the thermally stimulated relaxation of diffraction efficiencies in four-wave mixing experiments performed on semi-insulating InP.