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100 GHz electrically tunable planar Bragg gratings via liquid crystal overlay

100 GHz electrically tunable planar Bragg gratings via liquid crystal overlay
100 GHz electrically tunable planar Bragg gratings via liquid crystal overlay
We demonstrate 114GHz electrically tunable liquid crystal Bragg gratings using 170Vpp voltage. The devices were made using direct UV grating writing and use evanescent coupling into an electrically tuned nematic liquid crystal. Reconfigurable integrated optical devices are essential in today's dense and complex telecommunication meshes. A commonly employed component on the silica platform fulfilling the above role is a planar Bragg grating. The ability to tune the reflection peak of these gratings is one of the key enablers in realizing an all optical dynamic network. To date, little has been reported on electrically tunable planar Bragg gratings given their potentially superior response times over temperature tuned devices. Such electrically tunable devices work on the principle of shifting the Bragg wavelength by modifying the effective index of a waveguide in a multilayer substrate. One route to achieve this is by overlaying the grating with a liquid crystal as many liquid crystals display refractive index anisotropy that can be electrically manipulated. Modifying the liquid crystal refractive index subsequently alters the effective index of the waveguide, leading to Bragg wavelength shift. Using this approach, Sparrow et al [1] have previously demonstrated 35GHz tunability at 1560nm using 80Vpp (peak-to-peak) square-wave with 250mm-spaced aluminium electrodes. Here, we report a maximum tunability of 114GHz at 1561.8nm using patterned ITO glass electrodes with 170Vpp voltage at 1kHz. Two distinct threshold behaviors which manifest only during the increase of supply voltage were also observed.
Adikan, F.R.Mahamd
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Gates, J.C.
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Snow, B.D.
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Dyadyusha, A.
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Major, H.E.
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Gawith, C.B.E.
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Kaczmarek, M.
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
Smith, P.G.R.
8979668a-8b7a-4838-9a74-1a7cfc6665f6
Adikan, F.R.Mahamd
c553a74d-67f4-4566-b227-0890bdcb19c3
Gates, J.C.
b71e31a1-8caa-477e-8556-b64f6cae0dc2
Snow, B.D.
52b453fa-ff5c-49dd-81c9-d43eafab1ea8
Dyadyusha, A.
2d1d75d4-60f0-4437-8771-0d0b9a3c7931
Major, H.E.
38a1e085-bd05-4b24-a9c1-bf3b4b4afd9b
Gawith, C.B.E.
926665c0-84c7-4a1d-ae19-ee6d7d14c43e
Kaczmarek, M.
408ec59b-8dba-41c1-89d0-af846d1bf327
Smith, P.G.R.
8979668a-8b7a-4838-9a74-1a7cfc6665f6

Adikan, F.R.Mahamd, Gates, J.C., Snow, B.D., Dyadyusha, A., Major, H.E., Gawith, C.B.E., Kaczmarek, M. and Smith, P.G.R. (2007) 100 GHz electrically tunable planar Bragg gratings via liquid crystal overlay. Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)-Europe/International Quantum Electronics Conference (QELS) 2007, Munich, Germany. 17 - 22 Jun 2007. 1 pp .

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

We demonstrate 114GHz electrically tunable liquid crystal Bragg gratings using 170Vpp voltage. The devices were made using direct UV grating writing and use evanescent coupling into an electrically tuned nematic liquid crystal. Reconfigurable integrated optical devices are essential in today's dense and complex telecommunication meshes. A commonly employed component on the silica platform fulfilling the above role is a planar Bragg grating. The ability to tune the reflection peak of these gratings is one of the key enablers in realizing an all optical dynamic network. To date, little has been reported on electrically tunable planar Bragg gratings given their potentially superior response times over temperature tuned devices. Such electrically tunable devices work on the principle of shifting the Bragg wavelength by modifying the effective index of a waveguide in a multilayer substrate. One route to achieve this is by overlaying the grating with a liquid crystal as many liquid crystals display refractive index anisotropy that can be electrically manipulated. Modifying the liquid crystal refractive index subsequently alters the effective index of the waveguide, leading to Bragg wavelength shift. Using this approach, Sparrow et al [1] have previously demonstrated 35GHz tunability at 1560nm using 80Vpp (peak-to-peak) square-wave with 250mm-spaced aluminium electrodes. Here, we report a maximum tunability of 114GHz at 1561.8nm using patterned ITO glass electrodes with 170Vpp voltage at 1kHz. Two distinct threshold behaviors which manifest only during the increase of supply voltage were also observed.

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More information

Published date: June 2007
Additional Information: CI8-Tue
Venue - Dates: Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)-Europe/International Quantum Electronics Conference (QELS) 2007, Munich, Germany, 2007-06-17 - 2007-06-22
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre, Quantum, Light & Matter Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 47823
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/47823
PURE UUID: dca8b693-de8a-4a78-a393-4140dbb34d74
ORCID for J.C. Gates: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8671-5987
ORCID for C.B.E. Gawith: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3502-3558
ORCID for P.G.R. Smith: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0319-718X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 13 Aug 2007
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:18

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Contributors

Author: F.R.Mahamd Adikan
Author: J.C. Gates ORCID iD
Author: B.D. Snow
Author: A. Dyadyusha
Author: H.E. Major
Author: C.B.E. Gawith ORCID iD
Author: M. Kaczmarek
Author: P.G.R. Smith ORCID iD

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