Photorefractive properties of bulk periodically poled LiNbO3:Y:Fe

We show with specially grown iron-doped lithium niobate crystals that multi-domain periodically poled samples of iron-doped lithium niobate (PPLN) allow for phase grating recording with the diffraction efficiency close to that ensured by a single-domain sample with identical thickness. At the same time the optical damage induced by a finite transverse size light beam is considerably reduced in the periodically poled sample as compared to the single-domain material.