Abstract. The purity and the concentrations of the constituents Sr, Ba, Nb and Cr were determined in single crystals of chromium-doped Sr0.61Ba0.39Nb2O6 (SBN) by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF). Experiments with different Cr concentrations CCr reveal constant Sr and Ba concentrations as well as a decreasing Nb concentration with an increasing CCr. Therefore, Cr is incorporated at Nb lattice sites. The distribution coefficient of Cr is 1.2 between 100 and about 7000ppm Cr and 1 above. From measurements of the holographic two-beam coupling gain for different CCr, we deduced response times for the buildup of holographic gratings. The saturation value of depends in a nonlinear manner on CCr and reaches its maximum at about 6000ppm Cr. The inverse photorefractive response time of the grating erasure depends linearly on the erasure intensity for all doping concentrations. Thus a one-center model can be assumed for the charge transport in SBN:Cr.