Optical waveguiding devices using monocrystalline materials of the sillenite family of bismuth oxides

TLDR: In this paper, a light-guiding sillenite film was used as an electro-optical switch and modulator for a guided light beam, and a pair of interdigital electrodes were inserted into the glass.

Abstract: Monocrystalline materials of the sillenite family of bismuth oxides are used in the fabrication of optical thin-film devices. The sillenite materials are cubic in crystalline structure, transparent in the visible and near-infrared portions of the spectrum, electro-optic, piezoelectric, optically active, have useful acoustic surface wave coefficients and can be grown into high quality optical thin films by heteroepitaxial growth techniques. This wide range of properties in the light-guiding monocrystalline film should prove useful in the fabrication of a variety of thin-film devices suitable for integrated optical circuit arrangements. One such device is disclosed employing a thin light-guiding sillenite film upon which is deposited a pair of interdigital electrodes. The device serves as a thin-film electro-optical switch and modulator for a guided light beam.