Optical characteristics of transparent PMNT ceramic and its application at high speed electro-optic switch

The optical characteristics of transparent lead magnesium niobate titanate (PMNT) electro-optic ceramic, including the electro-optic phase modulation, electric hysteresis property and thermo-optic coefficient, are investigated in detail. Based on this novel ceramic, a polarization independent electro-optic switch by using fiber Sagnac interferometer (FSI) structure is realized. An initial π-shift is introduced into the Sagnac loop to eliminate the effect of the polarization orientation of the incident light on the switch performance. Then an electrically controllable PMNT phase retarder is used to switch the optical signal between the reflection and transmission ports. Some theoretical analyses are given and the switch performances are also discussed, including the thermal characteristic and different switching frequency response.