The details of experiments showing the effects of self-pumped phase conjugation on reflection and on transmission in barium titanate crystal are given. The specular reflection and the second-surface reflection of an extraordinary polarized beam, incident on the face of the crystal parallel to itsc-axis, get reduced in intensity as the phase conjugation develops. It has been found that parts of the self-pumped phase conjugate beam emerge out of the crystal as additional transmission beams. They grow in intensity as the phase conjugation develops. Other measurements which combine coherent or incoherent coupling beams are presented and used to explain the observations.

An impurity mediated mechanism of photorefractive effect in BaTiO₃ is proposed. The photoinduced changes in the relative concentration of Fe³⁺ in BaTiO₃ results in an electro-optic coupling through a combination of the Sangster and piezoelectric effects. This is based on the examination of the extensive results on the EPR of Fe³⁺ in the BaTiO₃ lattice. This model explains the improved photorefractive behavior of BaTiO₃ on doping with Co²⁺.

With a view to understanding the role of photo-induced valence changes of impurities in BaTiO₃ in the phenomena of photorefraction, EPR experiments were conducted under in situ He-Ne laser illumination. These experiments gave evidence for photoinduced valence change of Fe in BaTiO₃ at room temperature. The EPR signal due to trivalent iron was found to reduce in intensity with laser illumination The kinetics of the valence change has been investigated. Under large fringe width condition, the time constant of the decay is identified as the dielectric relaxation time τ_d. The changes in line shape on laser illumination to Dysonian form, appeared most predominantly in mechanically poled crystal compared to electrically poled single domain crystals. This demonstrated the possible role of domain walls and the defects there, as source or sinks of charge carriers on photo excitation. It is observed, that there is transient growth of Fe³⁺, when the laser illumination was put on, before its decay. This was attributed to charge transfer between electrons in oxygen vacancies and Fe⁴⁺. This predicted the growth of a transient grating under depleted pump condition in a two beam coupling experiment. This was experimentally proved by following the diffracted signal of the reading beam under the depleted pump condition.