The case for electro-optic waveguide devices from ferroelectric (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 thin film epilayers

(Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 (PLZT) thin films were grown epitaxially on MgO(001) substrate by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. Different ridge-type waveguides, including a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with co-planar metal electrodes, were defined in the PLZT epilayer using standard photolithographic techniques. The propagation losses for transverse electric polarized infrared light (λ0 = 1550 nm) in these ridge-type channel waveguides were measured at ~10 dB/cm. Electro-optic modulation was demonstrated with a half-wave voltage Vπ ≈ 150 V for a 3 mm interaction length, corresponding to a Pockels coefficient r51 ≈ 8.3 pm/V. Photonic crystal slabs (PCSs) were defined by etching a hexagonal two-dimensional lattice of holes in prepatterned ridge-type waveguides, using a focused ion beam. The sidewalls of the etched holes were inclined by an angle of ~10°. The impact on the transmission properties of these PCSs caused by out-of-plane structural asymmetries, such as deviation from a cylindrical shape of the FIB-etched air holes and the presence of a substrate with refractive index different from that of air, was investigated by numerical simulation. Auger depth profiling was used to investigate Ga+ ion implantation into the PLZT epilayer during FIB processing. The measurements suggest that such implantation of Ga+ is confined to the uppermost ~50 nm of the sample surface.

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