Conductive cladding layers for electrode poled nonlinear optic polymer electro-optics

We have demonstrated an enhancement in the effective electro-optic (EO) coefficient of electrode poled nonlinear optical polymers using a conductive polymer cladding. We have also demonstrated the lowest poling voltage to date, 300 V, for a 2 mum thick NLO polymer core and 2 mum thick conductive polymer cladding structure asymmetric waveguide structure. With the cladding material more conductive than the core material, the majority of the applied poling voltage is dropped across the core, maximizing poling efficiency and, hence, realizing a higher EO coefficient. These results show promise for lower operating voltage devices.