Pockel modulators

Ferroelectric liquid crystals are becoming increasingly promising for SHG devices and Pockels modulators [117]. The second harmonic intensity may be modulated [118]. A review of advanced liquid crystal polymers is given in Dubois [119]. Potential applications also include phase conjugation and real-time holography. 

Pockels modulator, optical properties 579 Poiselle flow 467... 

Materials for Electrooptic Modulation. The fundamental phenomenon of Pockel s effect is a phase change, A( ), of a light beam in response to a low frequency electric field of voltage, V. Relevant relationships for coUinear electrical and optical field propagation are as foUows (1 6) ... 

The light source can be a xenon lamp associated with a monochromator. The optical configuration should be carefully optimized because the electro-optic modulator (usually a Pockel s cell) must work with a parallel light beam. The advantages are the low cost of the system and the wide availability of excitation wavelengths. In terms of light intensity and modulation, it is preferable to use a cw laser, which costs less than mode-locked pulsed lasers. 

Fig. 6.10. Schematic diagram of a multi-frequency phase-modulation fluorometer. P polarizers PC Pockel s cell S sample R reference.

Fig. 6.13. Data obtained by the phase-modulation technique with a Fluorolog tau-3 instrument (Jobin Yvon-Spex) operating with a xenon lamp and a Pockel s cell. Note that because the fluorescence decay is a single exponential, a single appropriate modulation frequency suffices for the lifetime determination. The broad set of frequencies permits control of the proper tuning of the...

The use of fluorescence from alexandrite for temperature sensing was first reported by Augousti etal.(57,5S) using a low-power LED or a HeNe laser with a rather inefficient modulation accessory made of a bulky, high-voltage controlled Pockels cell,... 

Fig. 6. Experimental arrangement for lifetime measurements by the phase-shift method, using laser excitation. The laser beam is amplitude-modulated by a Pockel cell with analysing Nicol prism and a small part of the beam is reflected by a beam splitter B into a water cell, causing Rayleigh scattering. This Rayleigh-scattered light and the fluorescence light from the absorption cell are both focused onto the multiplier cathode PMl, where the difference in their modulation phases is detected. (From Baumgartner, G., Demtroder, W., Stock, M., ref. 122)).

Electro-optic modulation (Pockels effect) using a poled polymer is shown schematically in Figure 5.33, where an optical signal confined in a wave-guide is modulated by the application of an external voltage, known as a Mach-Zender Interferometer. 

Show the Pockels effect (electro-optic modulation)... 

The applied voltage in effect changes the linear susceptibility and thus the refractive index of the material. This effect, known as the linear electrooptic (LEO) or Pockels effect, modulates light as a function of applied voltage. At the atomic level, the applied voltage is anisotropically distorting the electron density within the material. Thus, application of a voltage to the material causes the optical beam to "see" a different... 

Fig. 23. Setup for periodic amplitude modulation, x and y are the two axes of the Pockels cell. They are rotated by 45" with respect to the polarization of the laser beam. S = U/UK, and U is the voltage for 180" phase shift.

We note from Eq. (15) that the space-charge field is shifted in space by n/2 with respect to the intensity pattern [Eq. (11)], which corresponds to a distant shift of Ag/4 in the x direction (Fig. 3d). This space-charge field induces an index volume grating via the Pockels effect (Fig. 3e). The refractive index including the fundamental component of refractive index modulation with magnitude of An can be written as... 

Both the amplitude and the direction of the total poling field are functions of position x. The dipole chromophore will align in response to the field Et(x), and a periodic refractive index modulation will be formed due to both molecular anisotropy and the Pockels effect [37], The contribution from molecular anisotropy is an important, sometimes even dominant, mechanism. 

Figure 4.12 Longitudinal Pockels cell. The kdp electro-optic crystal between two crossed polarizers makes an intensity modulator.

The application of an external field onto many materials will induce optical anisotropy. If the applied field oscillates, a time-dependent modulation of the polarization of the light transmitted by the device will result. Modulators of this sort include photoelastic modulators (PEM) [30,31], Faraday cells [32], Kerr cells [32], and Pockel cells. 

The Pockel s effect [3] refers to an electro-optical process wherein the application of large electric fields onto crystals lacking a center of symmetry can lead to nonlinear polarization effects and optical rotation. Pockel cells can be used in place of photoelastic modulators and can achieve very high modulation frequencies but often have the undesirable property of a nonzero birefringence in the absence of an applied field. 

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