Polymeric electro-optic materials and devices: meeting the challenges of practical applications

Abstract

Over the past five years, a new class of electro-optic polymeric materials has evolved which provides for the first time the capability to fabricate simple and inexpensive electro-optic devices on a variety of substrates. More importantly, these materials possess optical dielectric constants (or refractive indexes) comparable to radio-frequency dielectric constants allowing for fabrication of devices in which the electric field and the optical field propagate at the same velocity. Finally, the low dielectric constant of these materials relative to inorganic ionic crystals provides for operation of devices at much higher efficiency. Although the above facts have been clear for some time, the practical applications of these materials cannot be realized until materials can be created which satisfy a host of practical requirements and until device architectures and fabrication techniques appropriate for these materials can be developed. We will describe here research directed toward both of these ends.