Improved photorefractive time response using a cylindrical lens

Experimental observations are reported which demonstrate that the response time for beam fanning, self-pumped phase conjugation, and double phase conjugation can be shortened by more than an order of magnitude without a significant reduction in coupling strength by using a cyclindrical lens to focus incident laser light into a photorefractive crystal. These results are compared with those obtained using a spherical lens where a reduction in the photorefractive response time is accompanied by a corresponding reduction in coupling strength. It is shown that the fidelity of a phase conjugate beam is not degraded when cylindrical optics are used.