Chapter 2 Electro-optic effect

2.1 Introduction In anisotropic media, velocity of propagation depend on the propagation direction and also on the state of polarization and one observe the phenomenon of double refraction. Anisotropic media form the basis of a large number of polarization devices such as quarter wave and half wave plates. 2.2 Wave refractive index In anisotropic media, the direction of displacement (D) and electric field (E) are not parallel for all possible direction of E. Hence, electric field applied along x-direction generates a D which has all the three components. Thus

where written in the form

are the corresponding permittivity components. D may be

In matrix form

)(

(1)

Eq(1) can be written as D= E

Where is the dielectric tensor. Consider a plane wave propagating through an anisotropic medium. The time and space dependence of the electric and magnetic fields will be given by
( )

(1) (2) is the

Where

and

are constants, k is the propagation vector of the plane wave and

frequency of the electromagnetic wave. The wave refractive index |k| = k = ( ) Maxwells equation :=( )

is defined by the equation

using (

[ ( ) (

] )

Putting

and

and using Eq.(1) ( = Hence, ( ) H= ( ( ( ) ) ) (3) )

( )

Similarly ( From Eq.(3) and (4) ( ( ( ) ) ) ) (4)

(5) (6)

Let represent the unit vector along k i.e, along the normal to the wavefront. Thus ( ) Also (8) (7)

where is the dielectric constant tensor and Using Eqs.(7)and (8), Eq.(6)becomes ( ( ) ( ) ) ( ( ) ) E

is the free space permittivity.

) E (9)

If we refer to the principal axis system, is a diagonal(since is a diagonal) and x,y and zcomponents of Eq.(9) give us [( ) [( Using the fact that ) ] ] (10) (11)

(12) [( (13) For a nontrival solution of Eq.s(10,11,13), the determinant of the coefficients of must vanish giving us: | The above determinant is an eigenvalue equation; for a given direction of propagation of the plane wave, i.e, for a set values of the refractive index and , solving the above determinant gives us the possible | (14) ) ]

which are the eigenvalues.

Wave propagation along the z-direction In such a case, we will have (15) And Eq.(14) become | which gives ( i.e ( ) ( ) )( ) | (16)

, These are 2 eigenvalues. The corresponding polarization directions can be determined by substituting and in Eqs.(10,11,13) and using Eq.(15). Thus for a wave Eq(11) gives us ( For we have ) Thus a wave with its E along x similarly other root

which has a refractive index

similarly Eq(13) gives us

and propagating along z propagates with a phase velocity

corresponds to a wave with its E lying along the y- direction. Thus for a wave propagating along the z-direction, the eigenwaves are : (a) A wave with its E along x (and hence its D also along x since x,y,z is a principal axis system) which travels with a phase velocity of

(b) A wave with its E along y(and hence D also along y) which travels with a phase velocity (c) A wave with its E along z and propagating along either x or y direction travels with a phase velocity

Ray Refractive index

Since D and E are not along the same direction, the component of D along E is ( ) . This can be written as D = [ ( ( ) ) ] (As D= ) (17)

Where is the unit vector along the ray direction (i.e along S)

(18) (19)

|k| = k = ( ) From Eqs.(5) and (19)

=( )

( Converting k to s *( ) (( )

)+

(( )

) [

)]

[( [(

) )

( ) ] ]

(using =1)

[ [

( (

) ] ) ] (19)

From Eq.(17) and (19) ( From Eq.(9) i.e ( ) ( ) E , D by (21) and ) (20)

we can obtain Eq.(20) from Eq.(21) by replacing by , E by

So solution of Eq.(20) ( ( ( , ) ) ) , must vanish. (22) (23) (24)

For nontrivial solution the determinant of the coefficients of

Wave refractive index for a ray propagating along the z-direction, there are two values of (a) For a ray with E along x, (b) For a ray with E along y, (c) For a ray with E along z, and corresponding ray velocity is and corresponding ray velocity is and corresponding ray velocity is . .

Consider a ray propagating in the x-z plane at an angle with the z-axis as shown in the figure below:

Figure : wave propagating in the x-z plane at an angle with the z-direction For such case

And the determinant from Eqs.(22,23,24) gives us two roots (25) (26) Since and defining the three Cartesian

components of the ray velocity, the determinant equation obtained from Eqs.(22,23,24) cab be written as : | The above equation can be represented schematically as shown in figure below. For a given direction of propagation (i.e. for given ( ) one obtain two ray velocities as solution to the | (27)

determinant Eq(27). These two solutions are plotted as vectors in the same direction ) and of lengths equal to the two ray velocities.

Figure The ray velocity surface in a biaxial medium How the ray velocity surface is generated: Consider ray propagation in x-z plane. Assume that

As in the x-z plane the two ray refractive indicies are given by Eqs.(25) and (26). Thus in the x-z plane we would get two curves : (a) (b) By replacing to which is a circle of radius and in Eq(26) leads

which represents an ellipse with axes

and along x and z- directions respectively.

The index ellipsoid When light propagates in a crystal, the D vectors of the two eigenwaves and the wave normal direction s form a mutually perpendicular triad. It is therefore more convenient to present the field vectors in the D space. The electric energy density Ue is given by ( ) ( )

The constant energy density surface in D space is then ( )

If we denote

= r =(x,y,z)

then we have

This surface is called the index ellipsoid. The role of the index ellipsoid: For a given arbitrary wave normal direction s, the index ellipsoid can be used to 1) Find the indices of refraction of the two eigenwaves. 2) Find the corresponding directions of the D vectors of the two eigen waves. The prescription is as follows:

1) Draw a plane that is through the origin and is perpendicular to s. This plane intersects the index ellipsoid surface with a particular intersection ellipse. 2) The lengths of the two semi axes of the intersection ellipse, n1 and n2, are the two indices of refraction of the eigenwaves. 3) The two axes of the intersection ellipse are each parallel to the allowed D vectors of the eigenwaves.

The index ellipsoid in the presence of an external electric field

If we refer to the principal axis system of the crystal, a general biaxial crystal can be described by an equation:

Where

are the three principal indices of the crystal and (x,y,z) represents the principal

axis coordinates system. For a uniaxial crystal with its c-axis parallel to the z direction and ; and represent the ordinary and extraordinary refractive

indices of the crystal. In such a case Eq reduces to

The above form of equation for index ellipsoid refers to the principal axis system. After the electric field is applied, both the size and the orientation of the index ellipsoid are changed. The equation of the index ellipsoid is generally modified , where Energy density: U= ( ) impermeability tensor element

The dielectric permeability matrix is real and symmetric so the off axis terms are equal ( , , )

Using,

* Using [ Put ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

[(

Thus after applying electric field equation of the index ellipsoid is generally modified as above and above six terms may be changed.

Electro-optic effect
The electro-optic effect refers to change in the refractive indices of the crystal due to an applied external electric field. The Pockel effect refers to changes in the refractive indices proportional to

the first power of the applied electric field. If the change is proportional to the square of the applied field then the effect is referred as quadratic electro-optic effect or the kerr effect. The change in the crystal refractive indices can be described in terms of the changes in the shape, dimensions and orientation of the crystal index ellipsoid. The Pockel effect can exist only in those crystals that do not possess an inversion symmetry. A crystal is said to possess an inversion symmetry if inversion about any of its lattice points (i.e., replacing r by r, r being the position vector of any lattice point measured from the point about which the inversion is being performed ) leaves the crystal structure invariant. Instead of specifying the changes in the refractive indices, it is more convenient to consider the changes in ( ) due to external electric field. The changes in due to pockel effect are

described by the following equation: ( )

Where i=(1,2.6) and k = x,y,z When only the linear electro-optic effect is considered, the change induced by the electric field E = ( ) can be expressed as ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) [ ( ) ] Where the 6 matrix [ ] is called linear electro-optic tensor and its elements are called = [ ] * + (28)

electro-optic coefficients. For instance, ( ) ( ) ( )

Lithium Niobate:
LiNbO3 is the most widely used material for the manufacture of electro-optics devices, including phase modulators, polarization modulators, Mach-Zehnder intensity modulators. LiNbO3 is intrinsically a birefringent crystal. Its extraordinary optical axis is usually chosen as the z-axis of the principal coordinate system of the index ellipsoid. Therefore, the principal indexes in Eq() are

Where the ordinary index

and the extraordinary index

LiNbO3 belongs to 3m crystallographic group. Due to the symmetry properties of this group, the corresponding EO tensor takes the form:

(29) [ In this tensor coefficient are pm/V, pm/V, pm/V, pm/V ] For LiNbO3 crystal, the EO

Combining (28)-(29), the index ellipsoid for LiNbO3 in the presence of the electric field is represented by ( ) ( ) ( )

Since

is the largest EO coefficient, it is desirable to exploit it for EO modulation. This means

electric field is applied along the z- direction and the incident optical wave is polarized along the z-axis. With the electric field along the z-direction, , the index ellipsoid becomes

( Assuming, given by << , <<

, the refractive indices for x, y and z-polarized waves will be

( )

)
( )

)
( )

Hence,

When only one arm is modulated, the phase difference become

Where

is the optical index change in the waveguide active layer , is the optical wavelength,

L is the modulation length. Hence,

or

where

is the voltage value at which the voltage- induced phase difference reaches