Using picosecond time‐resolved four‐wave mixing we have investigated the turn‐on and turn‐off mechanisms in a photorefractive multiple quantum well spatial light modulator with Stark geometry. We show that holes contribute to the turn‐on time as a slower rise (∼300 ps) of the diffraction efficiency. Furthermore, the diffraction grating is dominated by either electrons or holes, depending on the applied voltage polarity relative to the diffraction of illumination. The grating decays in 0.4–8.5 ns, depending on the grating spacing. We show that the decay is due to lateral transport of carriers at the multiple quantum well/dielectric interfaces, where low‐temperature grown layers can increase the diffraction efficiency and device resolution. ©1996 American Institute of Physics.