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We have confirmed greatly improved resistance to photorefractive damage in compositions of lithium niobate containing 4.5 at. % MgO or more. Holographic diffraction measurements of photorefraction demonstrated that the improved performance is due to a hundredfold increase in the photoconductivity, rather than a decrease in the Glass current. The diffraction efficiency shows an Arrhenius dependence on temperature, with an activation energy of 0.1 eV for the damage-resistant compositions, compared with 0.5 eV for undoped or low-magnesium compositions. The damage-resistant compositions are distinguished by a 2.83-μm absorption line instead of the usual 2.87-μm line due to the OH-stretch vibration.

A statistical approach is used to determine the effect of porosity in ceramic materials on their dielectric breakdown strength. The calculated drop in dielectric strength is in good agreement with the experimental data for lead zirconate titanate ceramics. The theory shows that the measured dielectric strength in porous materials is a function of the porosity, the void size, and of the dimensions of the test sample.