Electro-optic effect of periodically poled optical superlattice LiNbO3 andits applications

The electro-optic effect of periodically poled optical superlattice LiNbO3 (PPLN) was studied. Because of the periodic electro-optic (EO) coefficient, the reciprocal vector of the periodic structure can be used to compensate for the phase mismatch between the ordinary and extraordinary waves, which is similar to the nonlinear optical frequency conversion process. If the qu asi-phase-matching condition is satisfied, polarization of a light propagat ed in PPLN can rotate linearly with the applied electric field, which shows that PPLN may be used as a precise spectral filter or an EO switch. (C) 20 00 American Institute of Physics. [S0003- 6951(00)04848-8].