Synchronous optical modulator by liquid crystal orientation

Research Project

Project/Area Number	12450123
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Research Field	Electronic materials/Electric materials
Research Institution	Shinshu University
Principal Investigator	MIYAIRI Keiichi Faculty of Engineering Professor, 工学部, 教授 (10023251)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	ITOH Eiji Faculty of Engineering Assistant, 工学部, 助手 (50303441)
Project Period (FY)	2000 – 2002
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2002)
Budget Amount *help	¥10,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥10,400,000) Fiscal Year 2002: ¥1,000,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,000,000) Fiscal Year 2001: ¥3,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,800,000) Fiscal Year 2000: ¥5,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,600,000)
Keywords	Tantalum oxide / liquid crystal cell / optical waveguide / optical modulator / thermal oxidation / argon laser / liquid crystal orientation / 液晶 / レーザ / 高分子
Research Abstract	2000 (1) Appropriate conditions for the preparation of tantalum oxide films by sputtering have been investigated, and the characteristics of basic optical module composed of tantalum oxide and liquid crystal layers prepared by spin coating have been measured. The variations of optical transmission, refractive index and absorption with wavelength have been also measured with an optical spectrometer. (2) The design of masks for the etching of patterns of actual devices has been made. The oxidation of metal tantalum or titanium films was made by thermal oxidation and the properties of these films have been examined. 2001 (1) A laser drawing system composed of micro controllable stage and an argon laser was fabricated. It has been found that polycarbonate films doped with dyes changes the transparency of the films under the irradiation of the strong laser beam. (2) A metal tantalum film was irradiated with a laser beam to obtain the oxide surface on it. But little change was observed. An additional subsequent heating to 400-500 ℃ was necessary to obtain the oxide surface. 2002 The performances of optical devices compose of tantalum oxide films and a liquid crystal cell has been investigated. The sensitivity and response of the device against dc and pulse drive signals have been measured, and the further investigation to overcome the problems was discussed.