Relationship between photorefractive activity and Raman scattering in lithium niobate crystals

Abstract We performed Raman scattering experiments in pure, Mg-doped and Fe-doped single crystals of lithium niobate. The measurements were carried out in 90° geometry at several laser beam intensities, and in several polarization arrangements. The possible occurrence of light-induced polarization-anisotropic scattering, and its effects on Raman spectra, were checked by simultaneously measuring the time dependence of the laser beam intensity transmitted by the sample with unchanged polarization, and the time dependence of the intensity of Raman lines from vibrational modes of known symmetry. The results give no indication of any effect of photorefractive activity on Raman observations in our pure and Mg-doped samples. On the contrary, in Fe-doped lithium niobate the build-up of light-induced o–e scattering strongly affected the relative intensities of Raman lines in specific experimental arrangements. We discuss the possible application of these effects to the characterization of lithium-niobate-based materials with strong photovoltaic and photorefractive activity.