Electro-optical coupling in layered composites PbZr1-xTixO3/polycarbonate

Electro-optical (E-O) composites based on the product of electrostrictive and elasto-optical effects were developed. Layered composites of PbZr1-xTixO3 and polycarbonate were synthesised, and their E-O properties were studied. The nominal transverse E-O coefficient of the composites was observed to be about four times larger than the same quantity of LiNbO3. Experiments and theoretical analysis showed that the E-O effect of the composites had strong 'size effects'. With decreasing ratio of the thickness/length or increasing width of the elasto-optical phase, the half-wave electrical field intensity increases, but the transverse E-O coefficient decreases for the layered composites.