Conductive Polymer Cladding Layers for Waveguide Electro-Optic Modulators

Abstract

Optical, electrical, processability, and film casting characteristics of various conductive cladding layers were investigated. The goal was to find conductive polymer cladding materials suitable for fabricating and optimizing waveguide electro-optic modulators. Using cladding material that is more conductive than the core material, the poling fields in the core will be maximized, realizing a maximum electro-optic coefficient, which reduces the operating voltage in waveguide electro-optic modulators. We found, however, that there are tradeoffs between absorption losses, conductivity, refractive index, materials processability and materials compatibility when using off-the-shelf materials.