Waveguided electrooptic switches using ferroelectric liquid crystals

• US 5,044,712 A
• Filed: 06/29/1990
• Issued: 09/03/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/1990
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force
• Original Assignee: United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force
• Inventors: Soref, Richard A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, John D.
• Application Number:
  US07/551,099
• Time in Patent Office: 431 Days
• Field of Search: 350/96.12, 350/96.13, 350/96.14, 350/96.15, 350/96.16, 350/331 R, 350/347 R, 350/347 V, 350/350 R, 350/350 S
• US Class Current: 385/16
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/1326 Liquid crystal optical waveguides or liquid crystal cells specially adapted for gating or modulating between optical waveguides
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/141 using ferroelectric liquid crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3132 of directional coupler type
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3136 of interferometric switch type
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3137 with intersecting or branching waveguides, e.g. X-switches and Y-junctions

Abstract

A tiny, high speed, low cost electrooptic switch is provided having co-planar waveguides of silicon oxynitride and a ferro-electric liquid crystal layer overlying the waveguides. A voltage source causes the molecular optic axis of the liquid crystal to rotate 45-90 degrees within the plane of the liquid crystal layer to cause a change of state of the switch.

Claims

1. An electro-optic switch comprising:

(a) coplanar light transmissive optical channel waveguide core portions for supporting guided modes of light polarized substantially parallel to the plane of the waveguide core portions, said waveguide core portions having a longitudinal light propagation axis and a core refractive index within a first range;

(b) a cladding layer having an initial ordinary index of refraction overlying a waveguide core portion and evanescently optically coupled thereto and comprising a substantially uniformly ordered layer of ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) having a cladding index of refraction which increases from said initial index of refraction in response to a change in voltage applied thereto, causing said cladding index to assume an index within a second range, lower than the first range of the refractive core index of said waveguides and not overlapping said first range; and

(c) voltage supply means for impressing a voltage across said cladding layer of a magnitude to cause the cladding index of said cladding layer to be increased to a sufficient extent to change the effective index of refraction of the guided modes within said core portion.

2. The electro-optic switch of claim 1 wherein said voltage supply means includes electrode means for establishing an initial molecular state of said FLC upon the application of a first voltage level across said cladding layer wherein the molecular optical axis of the ferroelectric liquid crystal is oriented at an initial angle of zero degrees with respect to the longitudinal light propagation axis of said waveguide portions and wherein said voltage supply means applies a second voltage level across said cladding layer for causing an in-plane change in the initial ferroelectric liquid crystal molecular optical axis from said initial angle of zero degrees to an effective angle of rotation of between 45-90 degrees, for in turn substantially increasing the local cladding index.

3. The switch of claim 1 wherein the first range of the core index of refraction is between 1.65 and 1.70 and wherein the second range of the cladding index of refraction is between about 1.58 and 1.65, and wherein said cladding layer has an initial ordinary index of refraction of about 1.50.

4. The switch of claim 2 wherein the first range of the core index of refraction is between 1.65 and 1.70 and wherein the second range of the cladding index of refraction is between about 1.58 and 1.65.

5. The switch of claim 2 wherein said cladding layer has a thickness of 1-2 microns.

6. The switch of claim 3 wherein said cladding layer has a thickness of between 1-2 microns.

7. The switch of claim 2 wherein one electrode of said electrode means is thin enough to permit light from a channel waveguide core portion to tunnel therethrough and into said cladding layer.

8. The switch of claim 4 wherein one electrode of said electrode means is thin enough to permit light from a channel waveguide core portion to tunnel therethrough and into said cladding layer.

9. The electro-optic switch of claim 7 or 8 wherein said one of said electrode means comprises a layer of indium tin oxide having a thickness of about 600 angstroms or less.

10. The switch of any one of claims 2-8 wherein said cladding layer overlies all waveguide core portions, said cladding layer being substantially uniformly ordered in the ordinary index state, and wherein a portion of said electrode means overlies only localized areas of said waveguide core portions, said localized areas being substantially smaller than the total areas of said waveguide core portions.

11. The switch of any one of claims 2-8 wherein said first voltage level is about -15 volts and said second voltage level is about +15 volts.

12. The switch of any one of claims 1-8 including a planarized layer of a dielectric material having a refractive index of about 1.5 in which said waveguide core portions are embedded, said dielectric material being grown upon a silicon substrate.

13. The electro-optic switch of any one of claims 1-8 wherein said waveguide core portions are made of silicon oxynitride.

14. The electro-optic switch of any one of claims 1-8 wherein said electro-optic switch is configured as a switch selected from the group consisting of two coupled single-mode waveguides, two intersecting waveguides, a two-by-two delta -beta switch, a two-by-two two-mode-interference switch, a two-by-two delta-k switch, a two-by-two mode evolution switch, a two-by-two balanced-bridge switch, a Mach-Zehnder intensity modulator and a multimode X-switch.

15. The electro-optic switch of any of claims 1-8 wherein the thickness of said waveguide portions is about five microns.