Light-induced scattering and energy transfer between orthogonally-polarized waves

We present a detailed experimental investigation on polarization-isotropic and polarization-anisotropic holographic scattering in lithium niobate crystal doped with iron when recording parasitic gratings with an ordinary polarized pump beam. The kinetics of both types of scattering during the whole process of recording is studied. Holographic scattering is presented as a simple technique to monitor the energy transfer between beams of different polarization. Moreover, the spectral and the angular dependence of the transmitted intensity of the crystal during the reconstruction of the auto-generated parasitic gratings are measured.