<title>Fabrication and characterization of thin ferroelectric interferometers for light modulation</title>

Abstract

A thin ferroelectric interferometer (TFI) structure for light modulating devices is presented. It was fabricated entirely with thin film techniques on sapphire and silicon substrates. The ferroelectric layer in this structure was the lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) electrooptic material, deposited from a chemical precursor solution onto an ITO-coated dielectric mirror stack. Light intensity modulation in both transmission and reflection modes, and phase modulation in the reflection mode were demonstrated. Experimental and simulation data show that TFI devices can be fast switching with a low driving voltage. Variations of the basic TFI structure can be used for phase tunable spatial light modulators (SLM's) and laser beam steering devices. Design principles, fabrication procedure and the preliminary performance of the devices are described.