Abstract

We describe the performance of intensity and phase modulators that use an aqueous suspension of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microparticles. In this medium, the electro-optic effect is caused by the reorientation of anisotropic microparticles in an applied electric field. The intensity modulator was constructed in the Kerr geometry by the use of a sample path length of 20 μm. The response time of the modulator is less than 25 ms, and the depth of modulation was measured to be 28 dB for a switching voltage of 134 V_rms. The switching voltage necessary to achieve a π-phase shift with the phase modulator is less than 30 V_rms.

© 1996 Optical Society of America

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