Electro-optical response of the ferroelectric relaxor poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) terpolymer

The electro-optical (EO) properties of the ferroelectric relaxor poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene-chlorofluoroethylene) terpolymer were investigated in the wavelength region from 3 to 5 mum. A large Kerr effect was observed in which a refractive index change of -2.6% can be induced under an electric field of 80 V/mum. When combined with the electrostrictive strain, the terpolymer film exhibits a total -5.6% optical path-length change under a field of 80 V/mum. Calculations based on density functional theory suggest that such a large EO effect was caused mainly by the reorientation of the C-F dipoles under external field in the crystalline region. Furthermore, the results support the notion that in the ferroelectric relaxor terpolymer, there exist nanopolar regions that undergo reorientation under external field and generate the observed electrostrictive strain and EO responses. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.