Ferroelectric ceramic electrooptic materials and devices

Thin polished plates of hot-pressed rhombohedral lead zirconate-lead titanate ceramics possess one of two types of electro-optic properties depending on the nominal grain diameter. In poled coarse-grained ceramics the electrooptic effect of importance for devices is the dependence of the light scattering properties on the orientation of the ceramic polar axis (electrical poling direction). The light scattering properties are essentially independent of the magnitude of electrical poling (ferroelectric remanence state). Poled fine-grained ceramics are birefringent, and their light transmission characteristics are similar to those of optically uniaxial crystals. These materials exhibit orthotropic symmetry with respect to the optic axis, which coincides with the ceramic polar axis. The fine-grained ceramic electrooptic effect of primary importance for devices is the dependence of the effective birefringence on the magnitude of electrical poling as well as on the intensity of the applied biasing electric field. Retardation of a ceramic plate can be varied incrementally by partial switching or continuously by application of a nonswitching bias field. Both coarse- and fine-grained ceramics have the property that localized areas as small as 25 µ by 25 µ can be poled or switched independently without affecting the light transmission characteristics of the surrounding area. The locally switched areas are stable with time, but they can be "erased" by switching them back to their original orientation. Each locally switched area can function as a light shutter, valve, or spectral filter depending on the ceramic material, the switching mode, and the characteristics of the incident light.