A photorefractive device (100) and methods of its manufacture are disclosed. The photorefractive device (100) comprises one or more transparent electrode layers (104), one or more sol-gel buffer layers (113), one or more polymer buffer layers (105), and a photorefractive layer (106). The one or more sol-gel buffer layer (113) is interposed between the one or more polymer buffer layer (105) and the one or more transparent electrode layer (104). When a bias voltage is applied to the device (100), the device (100) exhibits improvement in electric breakdown strength compared to a similar device without the one or more dielectric sol-gel buffer layers (113). The device (100) can operate at high bias levels with quick rising and decay times and shows higher grating performance under single nanosecond pulse recording conditions.