OPTICAL AND ELECTRICAL ASSESSMENT OF AN ELECTROOPTICAL INTENSITY MODULATOR FROM THE CONJUGATED POLYMER POLY(2,5-DIMETHOXY-P-PHENYLENEVINYLENE)

An optical waveguide-based absorption modulator is described having a multilayer structure of the conjugated polymer poly(2,5-dimethoxy-p-ph enylenevinylene) (PDMeOPV) and polyimide (Dupont PI2566), sufficiently thick to support several modes at the laser wavelengths of 633 and 78 0 nm. These structures operate as field-effect devices, and the origin of the electro-optical effect is through optical absorption in the re d and infrared caused by charge injection into the conjugated polymer layer. The active length of the device was 1 mm and modulations of up to 5% were measured when 70 V-r.m.s was applied to the electrodes, wit h the modulation dropping to zero above about 1 kHz, attributed to the long RC time constant of the device. Waveguides were assessed by pris m coupling and end-fire coupling. Insertion losses were 24 to 44 dB an d optical propagation losses ranged from 8 to 30 dB cm(-1), depending on the mode and polarization.