Efficient wafer-scale poling of electro-optic polymer thin films on soda-lime glass substrates: large second-order nonlinear coefficients and exceptional homogeneity of optical birefringence

We demonstrate a simple protocol for repeatable and efficient contact poling of guest-host electro-optic (EO) polymer thin films over large areas on soda-lime glass substrates. The poled large-area (up to 13.5 cm(2)) thin films in this study exhibit very large second-order nonlinear susceptibilities (d(33) values of 330-520 pm/V) for second-harmonic generation (SHG) and associated large Pockels coefficients (r(33) values of 105-180 pm/V) at the wavelength of 1.3 mu m. The poling protocol also produced poled EO thin films with excellent optical homogeneity and large positive birefringence with small variation (similar to 10(-3)) of refractive indices over the poled large areas. The study suggests a viable and scalable path towards the realization of integrated photonics based on pre-poled thin films of high performance EO polymers. (C) 2017 Optical Society of AmericaAir Force Research Laboratory (AFRL); Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) [FA8650-14-C-5005]; Small Business Technology Transfer Research program (STTR)Open Access Journal.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu