Photoferroelectric image storage in antiferroelectric-phase PLZT ceramics

A recently discovered photoferroelectric (PFE) effect in which the electric-field-induced antiferroelectric (AFE)-to-ferroelectric (FE) phase transition is photoinhibited is used to store nonvolatile gray-scale images in lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT) ceramics. Stored images exhibit exceptionally high contrast and approximately linear gray-scale reproduction. Images are stored as spatial variations of the volume ratio of FE phase to the initial AFE phase. Localized variations of the ratio of FE to AFE phase produce related variations in light scattering. In the materials studied, the scattering effect partially depolarizes transmitted visible light, and the stored image can be viewed directly or projected onto a screen using crossed linear polarizers.