Performance of an electro-optic waveguide modulator fabricated using a deoxyribonucleic-acid-based biopolymer

An electro-optic (EO) planar waveguide modulator using a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based biopolymer for both the waveguide core and cladding layers has been fabricated and its performance evaluated. A cross-linked DNA-surfactant biopolymer was used for the top and bottom cladding layers and the core layer was a cross-linked DNA-surfactant biopolymer with 3 wt % Disperse Red 1. The EO coefficient r(33) was induced through contact poling. The fabricated device was found to exhibit EO modulating behavior. Using an estimated value of r(33)=0.5 pm/V, a sine-squared fit to the modulating data was obtained with V-pi=263 V +/- 10%. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.