High Performance Ridge Type PLZT Optical Switch With Offset Upper Electrode

(Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O
₃
(PLZT) has a high electro-optical coefficient and is very attractive for optical waveguide switches with high speed, low driving voltage, and compact size. The 1 × 2 PLZT optical switch using ridge type Mach-Zehnder interference structure has been designed and fabricated. By introducing offset upper electrodes instead of the conventional top electrodes, the insertion loss of the fabricated 1 × 2 PLZT optical switch was decreased 9.8 dB significantly with a crosstalk of -25.3 dB and the driving voltage <;10 V.