Abstract

With the continued development of electro—optic polymer devices, optical and electrical performance have become increasingly important issues. Higher r₃₃ values and lower V_π^l, are continually sought, and improvements have been reported [1,2]. In order to optimize these vlaues, high electric field strengths must be achieved across the active polymer during both poling and device operation. Devices are generally constructed as a multilayer structure with upper and lower dielectric polymer optical buffer layers. The electric field strength across the EO polymer or active guiding layer is determined in large measure by the electrical properties of the cladding layers. If these properties for all layers are similar, then the field strength across the EO polymer is reduced by an amount determined by the relative thicknesses of the cladding and active layer. Reported here is a technique in which the buffer layers were doped in order to increase the field strength across the active polymer, thus reducing the required poling voltage as well as the operating voltage for the device.

© 1992 Optical Society of America