Corona poling of nonlinear polymer thin films for electro-optic modulators

We have developed an experimental technique for corona poling a nonlinear polymer thin film for use in electro-optic modulators. This method eliminates the pinhole and surface roughness damage that has been observed when corona poling a nonlinear polymer deposited on a conducting substrate. Electro-optic modulators have been constructed to compare this corona poling technique to the contact poling technique commonly used with electro-optic devices. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate that the corona poled electro-optic devices were poled with electric fields near the dielectric breakdown of the thin polymer films—fields that are often difficult to achieve with contact poling.