Low half-wave voltage and high electro-optic effect in hybrid polymer/sol-gel waveguide modulators

The authors report on hybrid electro-optic (EO) polymer-sol-gel modulators with low half-wave voltage (V-pi) and low insertion loss. Larger EO coefficient r(33) results from the high poling field achieved when EO polymer is sandwiched between sol-gel cladding layers. The reduced interelectrode distance (d) resulting from the elimination of the sol-gel core layer in the active region further reduces V-pi. Straight channel phase modulators operate with V-pi=4.2 V at 1550 nm using a reduced d of 11.5 mu m, which corresponds to an r(33) of 78 pm/V, among the highest r(33) reported. The authors also examine a Mach-Zehnder modulator with V-pi=3.9 V using a conventional d of 15 mu m. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.