It is shown that metastable centers in various semiconductors can be used for efficient hologram recording. This type of holographic materials has a very high dynamic range and sensitivity. Their major drawback for possible applications is low metastability temperature. This problem can be overcome by using CdF_{2}:Ga crystals, which exhibit metastability below 240 K. This material is suitable for writing thick and multiple holograms both in static and dynamic regimes.
Lattice relaxation accompanying phototransformation of In bistable centers from the ground, deep state to the shallow state in CdF_{2} crystal has been measured with the use of scanning tunnelling microscope. It is shown that relatively small macroscopic changes of the crystal length in the order of 1.8×10^{-6} accompany the phototransformation of In ions. Lattice expansion upon the influence of population of shallow donor levels in CdF_{2} explains the observed small changes of lattice constant during the process.
We show that DX-like centers in Cd_{1-x}Mn_{x}Te_{1-y}Se_{x}:In crystal can be used in writing volume holographic gratings. The scattering efficiency is higher than 10% which proves the dispersive character of the light-induced gratings. Two different metastable centers with different lattice relaxation were found in the crystal. Measurements of the power dependence of the degenerate four-wave mixing scattering efficiency testify that both of these centers have negative U properties.
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