Optical and electro-optic properties of micrometric thick lead zirconate titanate films on (Pb0.86, La0.14)TiO3/glass

Highly (100)-oriented Pb(Zr-0.52, Ti-0.48)O-3 (PZT) films of up to similar to 2.4 mu m are deposited on the (Pb-0.86, La-0.14)TiO3 (PLT)-coated amorphous substrate by one cycle of sputtering and annealing. The films possess fibrous columnar nanostructures and vertically grow on the PLT/glass substrate. Microstructure analysis and property characterization indicate that the films possess very promising optical, waveguiding, and electro-optic (EO) properties, as well as low propagation loss. The transparency of >80% in the range of lambda = 400-1200 nm and the linear EO coefficient of 341.4 pm/V have been measured in the films. Due to the large EO coefficient and the micrometric thickness, a giant phase retardation of 2.93 rad has been measured under an electric field of 50 kV/mm. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [DOI: 10.1063/1.3176897]