Tuning of microwave and optical properties of the electro-optic polymer PMMA-DR1 by loading with SiC nanoparticles for optimization of photonic microwave components

Abstract

We report on a study of the influence of the Silicon Carbide (SiC) nanoparticles on the microwave and optical properties of electro-optic (EO) polymers. EO polymers are known as much more promising than the popular inorganic EO crystal Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3). Indeed, EO polymers can have larger EO coefficients and permit broader component bandwidths due to a better velocity matching between lightwave and microwave signal. In this study, we use a classical EO polymer constituted of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) used as host polymer matrix in which Disperse Red 1 (DR1) EO dyes have been dispersed. The obtained results show that both the dielectric constant and the refractive index of PMMA-DR1 films may be continuously tuned by incorporating SiC nanoparticles. Therefore, one can increase component bandwidths by optimizing phase velocity matching between lightwave and microwave signal and improve optical mode coupling.