High-Performance Modulators Spark Second Phase of Photonics Revolution

Applications

• Military and Commercial Significance:
• AFRL transitioned this new technology base to the AF and Department of Defense. Technology transfer for commercial applications is also ongoing and could mark the beginning of a second phase of the photonics revolution that began more than 2 decades ago.
• Electro-optic polymers are an intense AF-sponsored research and development effort, and remarkable improvements in their performance have been seen the past 15 years. Building on the gains made in previous research, IPITEK designed a program to tackle the challenging science and engineering problems of transitioning these materials into current, state-of-the-art commercial and military systems.
• After more than 2 decades of the first phase of the photonics/fiber-optics revolution, there is now an increasing need for transmitting vast amounts of information and in particular, a need for active optical switching within networks. There are also important military uses, such as, intersatellite communications and phased-array radar. Inherent in all of these systems is the necessity to impress very high modulation rate signals on optical carrier beams, whether done in an analog or digital fashion.
• The commercial potential for the technology developed under this dual-use program is huge. The primary market being targeted is the cable television distribution market, which could become a major Internet distribution market as well. Electro-optic polymer technology can also be adapted to ultra-high-frequency electromagnetic field sensors for numerous military applications. The unique advantages of such field sensors include the ability to make compact sensor arrays and minimal disturbance of the electromagnetic fields being sensed due to the all-dielectric materials being employed. Another important application of this technology involves high-speed, digitally tunable wavelength filters, which are key devices for dynamically reconfigurable optical add-drop multiplexers in fiber-optical networks.