The 3-amino-9-ethyl carbazole (AEC)/Dispersed Orange 3 (DO3)/diglycidyl 1,2 cyclohexanedicarboxylate (DCD) main chain copolymers are synthesized and studied on their photorefractive (PR), photoconductive, and holographic characteristics. They are good hologram recording media because not only the stored hologram exhibits excellent fringe contrast with the resolution at about 20 mu m, but also the image can be stored, erased, and overwritten. The UV/Vis spectra shows that AEC segments may form charge transfer complexes with either DO3 segments or TNF sensitizers. By incorporating the sensitizer or increasing the charge transfer component concentration, the grating growth rate can be speeded up. Applying an electric field on the polymer film containing no sensitizer helps to elevate the grating growth speed, but it shows little influence on the grating growth speed of the films with sensitizers. More nonlinear optical (NLO) segments in the copolymer result in higher diffraction efficiency. The dark decay of the film depends on the dark conductivity. Incorporating sensitizers or more charge transport segments leads to more dark decay because of increasing dark conductivity. The dark decay of the PR properties at elevated temperature can also be evaluated by the thermal stimulated discharge current (TSDC) spectroscopy technique.