Electro-optical material mounting configuration for high speed operation

• US 10,444,550 B1
• Filed: 06/26/2017
• Issued: 10/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Agiltron, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Agiltron, Inc.
• Inventors: Zhao, Jing
• Primary Examiner(s): Figueroa, John J
• Application Number:
  US15/633,088
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: C01G 33/00 Compounds of niobium
• CPC Class Codes: C01G 35/00 Compounds of tantalum
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/0018 Electro-optical materials
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/035 in an optical waveguide structure
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/505 Arrangements improving the resistance to acoustic resonance like noise

Abstract

An optical device is provided for electrically changing light beam properties, comprising an electro-optical (EO) material positioned in a light beam path, a metal plate to which the EO material is attached, and a first soft metal layer attached to at least to the first surface of the EO material. A method is also provided for dampening resonant vibration in an EO material, comprising forming a bar from an EO material, providing a metal plate, and soldering a first surface of the EO bar to a surface of the metal plate with a soft metal alloy.

Claims

1. A method for dampening resonant vibration in an electro-optical (EO) material, comprising:

forming a bar from an EO material;

providing a sound wave conducting metal plate; and

soldering a first surface of the EO bar to a surface of the metal plate with a soft metal alloy.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the soft metal alloy is selected from the group consisting of gallium, lead, mercury, and indium.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the first soft metal alloy is a wettable to the EO bar; and

the first surface of the bar is soldered to the metal plate without flux or metallization of the first surface of the EO bar.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

soldering a first electrode to a side of the metal plate with the soft metal alloy and oriented perpendicular to a light beam path through the EO bar; and

soldering a second electrode to a second surface of the EO bar oriented perpendicular to a light beam path through the EO bar.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising attaching the soft metal alloy to a second side of the EO bar.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the EO bar comprises forming the EO bar from an EO crystal selected from the group consisting of LiNbO₃, KTP, LiTaO₃, RTP, KDP, KD*P, BBO, KnbO₃, and KTa_xNb_1-xO₃.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of forming the EO bar comprises forming the EO bar from a bulk material selected from the group consisting of PNZ, PLZT, PMN, and PMN-PT.