High performance electro-optic polymer waveguide device

Abstract
A high performance electro-optic polymer modulator is fabricated by utilizing a thermally curable cladding polymer. Half-wave modulation voltage as low as 3.7 and 4.8 V under 500 Hz operation is obtained with a 1.5 cm long electrode at wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.55 μ m, respectively. The modulator also shows stable dc bias voltage to be traceable and low poling-induced optical loss. This work implies that proper selection of a cladding material is as important as the electro-optic materials in the electro-optic waveguide devices.