Polymeric Ultrathin Film Multilayered Modulators

非线性聚合物薄膜为非常快的光电子器件提供了巨大的希望。虽然需要进一步的研究才能在坚固、廉价的材料上获得更有效的非线性性能，但继续进行器件研究是非常重要的。特别是，调查当前材料是否适合用于设备应用是至关重要的。最好的材料现在提供的电光系数可与最好的无机物相媲美。聚合物薄膜很有吸引力，因为它可以很容易地沉积在半导体和金属上，创造出新颖的器件结构。这样的应用超出了标准无机材料的能力。然而，要在这种薄膜中获得有用的效果，还需要更大的电光系数。因此，该建议解决了依赖多通光学结构来提供电光耦合的大幅增强的干涉结构的需求。如果分子和薄膜质量没有显著的改善，这种多程器件可能是有机和聚合物非线性材料在电子学中唯一的实际应用。如果获得这样的改进，干涉设备仍将提供比单程设备更高的灵敏度，从而提供更好的性能。将对各种多层膜结构进行分析、制造和测试。将特别注意集成电路处理器和存储器之间的全球光学互连。

Nonlinear polymeric films offer great promise for very fast opto- electronic devices. While further research is needed to obtain still more efficient nonlinear performance in robust, inexpensive materials, it is very important to proceed with device research. In particular, it is crucial to investigate the appropriateness of current materials for device applications. The best materials now offer electro-optical coefficients comparable to the best inorganics. Polymer thin films are attractive because they can be readily deposited on semiconductors and metals to create novel device structures. Such applications are beyond the capabilities of the standard inorganic materials. However, still larger electro-optic coefficients will be needed to obtain useful effects in such thin films. Thus, this proposal addresses the need for interferometric structures which rely on multiple-pass optical structures to provide large enhancement of the electro-optical coupling. If significant improvements in molecules and film quality are not forthcoming, such multiple-pass devices may be the only practical use in electronics of the organic and polymeric nonlinear materials. If such improvements are obtained, interferometric devices will still offer much larger sensitivity than single pass devices, providing enhanced performance. A variety of multilayer film structures will be analyzed, fabricated and tested. Particular attention will be paid to global optical interconnects between integrated circuit processors and memory.