Optical intensity modulators using diazo-dye-substituted polymer channel waveguides

The electrooptic (EO) modulation of 1.32 /spl mu/m laser light is measured in Mach-Zehnder channel waveguides fabricated with diazo-dye-substituted polymers with coplanar-waveguide (CPW) or microstrip (MS) electrodes. Two types of channel waveguide fabricated by photobleaching or O/sub 2/ reactive-ion etching (RIE) exhibit the same EO coefficients r/sub 33/ under the same poling condition. However, the photobleached waveguides show a lower half-wave voltage than the RIE-fabricated ones because of both the optical power concentration in a core layer and the existence of an EO active cladding layer. These tendencies are well explained by considering "effective" overlap integrals between the optical and electric fields, including the distribution of EO-active regions. The maximum r/sub 33/ value (26 pm/V) of the poled diazo-dye-substituted polymer is obtained with an RIE-fabricated MS-modulator. >

[1]  Roel G. Baets,et al.  Optically nonlinear polymeric devices , 1991, Optics & Photonics.

[2]  H. E. Green.  The Numerical Solution of Some Important Transmission-Line Problems , 1965 .

[3]  Lars Thylén,et al.  Integrated optics in LiNbO/sub 3/: recent developments in devices for telecommunications , 1988 .

[4]  J. Yardley,et al.  Photochemical laser writing of polymeric optical waveguides , 1991 .

[5]  Toshikuni Kaino,et al.  Second-order nonlinearity of a novel diazo-dye-attached polymer , 1990 .

[6]  Philippe Robin,et al.  Properties and applications of polymers in optics and electro-optics , 1993, Optics & Photonics.

[7]  M. Izutsu,et al.  Broad‐band guided‐wave light intensity modulator , 1981 .

[8]  Mark G. Kuzyk,et al.  Second-order nonlinear-optical processes in orientationally ordered materials: relationship between molecular and macroscopic properties , 1987 .

[9]  Paul Lagasse,et al.  Integrated optic devices based on nonlinear optical polymers , 1991 .

[10]  R. Alferness.  Waveguide Electrooptic Modulators , 1982 .

[11]  G. F. Lipscomb,et al.  20 GHz electro-optic polymer Mach-Zehnder modulator , 1991 .

[12]  Norio Murata,et al.  UV-curable adhesives for optical communications , 1991 .

[13]  R. B. Comizzoli.  Uses of Corona Discharges in the Semiconductor Industry , 1987 .

[14]  M. Koshiba,et al.  Approximate Scalar Finite-Element Analysis of Anisotropic Optical Waveguides with Off-Diagonal Elements in a Permittivity Tensor , 1984 .

[15]  C. C. Teng,et al.  Traveling-wave polymeric optical intensity modulator with more than 40 GHz of 3-dB electrical bandwidth , 1992 .

[16]  Hirokazu Kubota,et al.  Dynamic optical soliton communication , 1990 .

[17]  M. Hikita,et al.  Novel ‘‘serially grafted’’ connection between functional and passive polymer waveguides , 1994 .

[18]  S. Imamura,et al.  Polymer channel waveguides with low loss at 1.3 mu m , 1991 .

[19]  Karl W. Beeson,et al.  Polymeric electro-optic materials and devices: meeting the challenges of practical applications , 1993, Optics & Photonics.

[20]  Tadao Nagatsuma,et al.  Diazo dye attached electro-optical polymer and its applications to waveguide devices and electro-optical sampling , 1994, Photonics West - Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering.

[21]  Y. Shuto,et al.  Electrooptic light modulation and second-harmonic generation in novel diazo-dye-substituted poled polymers , 1991, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[22]  E. Yamada,et al.  10 Gbit/s single-pass soliton transmission over 1000 km , 1991 .

[23]  Toshikuni Kaino,et al.  Electro-optical light modulation in novel azo-dye-substituted poled polymers , 1991, Optics & Photonics.

[24]  Barton A. Smith,et al.  Polymeric electro-optic phase modulator for broadband data transmission , 1993, Optics & Photonics.

[25]  Gregory Raybon,et al.  Optical intensity modulation to 40 GHz using a waveguide electro‐optic switch , 1987 .

[26]  Paul R. Ashley,et al.  Multilevel registered polymeric MachZehnder intensity modulator array , 1993 .

[27]  Larry R. Dalton,et al.  Traveling wave electro‐optic phase modulator using cross‐linked nonlinear optical polymer , 1994 .

[28]  Toshikuni Kaino,et al.  Electrooptic Light Modulation in Poled Azo-Dye-Substituted Polymer Waveguides , 1991 .

[29]  W. R. Holland,et al.  Guest-Host Polymers for Nonlinear Optics , 1990 .

[30]  Yoshito Shuto,et al.  Optical intensity modulation in a vertically stacked coupler incorporating electro‐optic polymer , 1993 .

[31]  Mitsuho Yasu,et al.  Low-loss high-silica single-mode channel waveguides , 1986 .

[32]  Mart B. J. Diemeer,et al.  Photoinduced channel waveguide formation in nonlinear optical polymers , 1990 .