Pockel's coefficient enhancement of poled electro-optic polymers with a hybrid organic-inorganic sol-gel cladding layer

Ultraefficient poling of electro-optic polymers is reported using an organically modified sol-gel cladding layer. This poling technique has resulted in a Pockel's coefficient enhancement of up to a factor of 2.5, going from 26 pm/V when poled without a sol-gel cladding to 65 pm/V when optimally poled with a sol-gel cladding. The poling process directly applies to a previously reported hybrid electro-optic polymer/sol-gel waveguide modulator and may have applications in other poled polymer based devices. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.