From molecules to opto-chips: organic electro-optic materials

Recent advances in polymeric electro-optic materials and device fabrication techniques have significantly increased the potential for incorporation of these materials and devices into modern high bandwidth (fiber and wireless ) telecommunication, information processing, and radar systems. Charge tran sfer pi-electron chromophores characterized by molecular first hyperpolariz ability (second order optical non-linearity) values approaching 3000x10(-30 ) esu have been synthesized. Elucidation of the role of intermolecular elec trostatic interactions in inhibiting the efficient translation of molecular optical non-linearity to macroscopic electro-optic activity has permitted systematic modification of materials to achieve electro-optic coefficients approaching 100 pm V-1. Improvements in the optical loss of polymeric mater ials at wavelengths of 1.3 and 1.55 mu m have been effected. Mode matching of passive transmission and active electro-optic waveguides has been addres sed, permitting a dramatic reduction in insertion loss. The putative abilit y of polymeric electro-optic materials to be efficiently integrated with ve ry large scale integration semiconductor electronic circuitry and with pass ive optical circuitry has been demonstrated. Several devices of varying deg rees of complexity have been fabricated and evaluated to operational freque ncies as high as 150 GHz. The operational stability of polymeric devices is very competitive with devices fabricated from lithium niobate and gallium arsenide.