This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop the next generation of photonic devices through innovative tunable electro-optic (EO) photonic bandgap materials. The resulting EO photonic bandgap materials will be useful in applications such as high-speed modulators, filters, and switches. These devices promise to enable photonic integrated circuits and eventually a system-on-a-chip. A one-dimensional tunable EO photonic bandgap modulator/filter will be designed and demonstrated in Phase I. The feasibility of an EO two-dimensional photonic bandgap structure will be studied in Phase I and implemented in Phase II.
The commercial application of this project is in the optical communications industry. The resulting EO materials will be useful in applications such as high-speed modulators, filters, and switches. These devices will enable photonic integrated circuits. The materials are expected to have the highest EO coefficient among the known solid materials: about 100 times that of LiNbO3. Electro-optic films are also inherently fast in response. An EO photonic bandgap material modulator with miniature size and lower driving voltage is possible.
