EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVE ELECTROOPTIC CONSTANTS OF FREE STANDING SUPERLATTICES IN THE LONG-WAVELENGTH REGIME

The effective electro-optic constants of an idealized free standing su perlattice, composed of thin alternating layers are derived, according to a matrix formulation, as a function of the dielectric and electro- optic constants of each of the constituents. The proposed model is val id only if the energy of light is small compared to the gap of both ma terials. The results are applied to superlattices with layers of all c lasses of orthorhombic, hexagonal, tetragonal and cubic symmetries. (C ) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.