M. Kulishov, Interdigitated electrode-induced phase grating with an electrically switchable and tunable period, APPL OPTICS, 38(36), 1999, pp. 7356-7363
A new design for an adjustable electro-optic phase grating inside a wavegui
de is proposed. The electric field and the refractive-index distribution in
duced inside a waveguide by voltage applied to double-sided periodic interd
igitated electrode arrays are calculated rigorously on the basis of an orig
inal analytical technique. The modeling was carried out with the Mathcad so
ftware. It is shown that the fundamental periodicity of the induced grating
inside the waveguide can be switched between l and 2l by application of th
e appropriate voltage, where l is the spatial periodicity of the interdigit
ated electrodes. One can also fine tune the peak grating reflectivity by ch
anging the constant component of the induced refractive index with the help
of the constant component of the electric field inside the waveguide. The
suggested design can be used as a basic idea for a variety of optical commu
nication networking applications, including switching, modulation, deflecti
on, and data processing. (C) 1999 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 13
0.2790, 050.1950, 060.1810, 160.2100, 130.3120.