Dielectric and electrooptic properties of PMN-PT single crystals and thin films

Dielectric and electro-optical properties of ferroelectric lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO 3 (or PMN-PT) single crystals and thin films were investigated to assess their potential for optical waveguide applications. Waveguide properties and optical loss of PMN-PT thin films on MgO substrates were examined at a wavelength of 1550 nm.; Highly epitaxial PMN-PT thin films were deposited on MgO substrates using pulsed laser deposition. With the structural characterization of the films studied by X-ray diffraction, optimized deposition conditions to obtain high quality thin films in terms of substrate temperature, oxygen pressure, and film thickness were obtained. The surface roughnesses of the PMN-PT thin films relating to the microstructural contributions to optical loss by scattering were examined with atomic force microscopy. Refractive indices, thickness, anisotropy and in-depth index profile of the PMN-PT thin films on MgO substrates were analyzed using the prism coupling method.; Dielectric properties of the PMN-PT films with co-planar electrodes were investigated as a function of frequency. Dielectric tunability of the film was determined as a function of frequency. Electro-optical properties of PMN-PT single crystals and thin films on MgO substrate were determined. Thermo-optical properties of the film with and without corona poling were investigated.; PMN-PT ridge waveguide devices were fabricated using a process of photolithography. Geometries for the waveguide in single mode propagation at a wavelength of 1550 nm were optimized with effective index method. By using an end-firing method, the waveguide properties of the films were characterized and the propagation loss was determined to be 3.01 dB/cm which lies within the acceptable attenuation range (<5dB/cm) suitable for optical guided wave applications.