Theoretical and experimental investigations of a semilinear phase-conjugating mirror based on a photorefractive crystal

The results indicated that the dynamics and steady states of a semilinear phase-conjugating mirror based on a photorefractive crystal are governed by small "seeds" of scattered waves at the entry to a nonlinear medium. The relationships for the determination of the width of the bistability region are formulated and the conditions under which the investigated system is self-starting are identified.