Low half-wave voltage polymeric electro-optic modulator using CLD-1/PMMA for electrocardiogram (ECG) signal acquisition

Publication Name

Optics Express

Abstract

Electro-optic (EO) modulators are typically made of inorganic materials such as lithium niobate; the replacement of these modulators with organic EO materials is a promising alternative due to their lower half-wave voltage (Vπ), ease of handling, and relatively low cost. We propose the design and fabrication of a push-pull polymer electro-optic modulator with voltage-length parameters (VπL) of 1.28 V·cm. The device uses a Mach–Zehnder structure and is made of a second-order nonlinear optical host-guest polymer composed of a CLD-1 chromophore and PMMA polymer. The experimental results show that the loss is 1.7 dB, Vπ drops to 1.6 V, and the modulation depth is 0.637 dB at 1550 nm. The results of a preliminary study show that the device is capable of efficiently detecting electrocardiogram (ECG) signals with performance on par with that of commercial ECG devices.

Open Access Status

This publication may be available as open access

Volume

31

Issue

8

First Page

12072

Last Page

12082

Funding Number

61177078

Funding Sponsor

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Share

COinS
 

Link to publisher version (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.484785