An electro-optic modulator comprising at least one nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal; first and second conductors operatively connected to the nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal adapted to be connected to a voltage source to modulate light passing there through; whereby light is modulated by passing through the nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal. A method for modulating light comprising providing at least one at least one nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal; providing first and second conductors operatively connected to the nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal adapted to be connected to a voltage source to modulate light passing there through; providing an interrogating light beam striking at least one nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal; modulating light passing through the nanodisordered potassium tantalate niobate crystal; and receiving a modulated light beam.

To effectively prevent the acceleration of the drift phenomenon generated by the application of a high electric field to a substrate through a bias electrode in a waveguide type optical element. A waveguide type optical element includes a substrate (100) having an electro-optic effect, two optical waveguides (104 and 106) disposed on a surface of the substrate, a non-conductive layer (120) which is disposed on the substrate and is made of a material having a lower dielectric constant than the substrate, and a control electrode (150) which is disposed on the non-conductive layer and is intended to generate a refractive index difference between the two optical waveguides by respectively applying electric fields to the two optical waveguides, and the non-conductive layer is constituted of a material which includes silicon oxide, an oxide of indium, and an oxide of titanium and has a ratio between a molar concentration of the titanium oxide and a molar concentration of indium oxide of 1.2 or more, and a voltage generating an electric field of 1 V/μm or more in the substrate is applied to the control electrode.

An electro-optical device includes an electro-optic crystal, a first electrode, and a second electrode. A voltage is applied to the electro-optic crystal by the first electrode and the second electrode. The electro-optic crystal has an incident surface and an emitting surface parallel to each other and deflects incident light made incident on the incident surface at an acute incident angle in an electric field direction in which a voltage is applied. A rotation axis of an incident angle is parallel to the electric field direction.

A reflective spatial light modulator includes an electro-optic crystal having an input surface to which input light is input and a rear surface opposing the input surface, a light input/output unit being disposed on the input surface of the electro-optic crystal and having a first electrode through which the input light is transmitted, a light reflection unit including a substrate including a plurality of second electrodes and an adhesive layer for fixing the substrate to the rear surface and being disposed on the rear surface of the electro-optic crystal, and a drive circuit applying an electric field between the first electrode and the plurality of second electrodes.

An optical device includes an X-cut substrate, and a first waveguide and a second waveguide each being formed on the substrate and having a folding structure. The optical device includes a first signal electrode to generate a first electric field, and a second signal electrode to generate a second electric field with a reverse phase as compared to the first field. The first waveguide includes a first waveguide on an outward side to which the first field is applied from the first signal electrode, and a first waveguide on a return side to which the second field is applied from the second signal electrode. The second waveguide includes a second waveguide on the outward side to which the first field is applied from the first signal electrode, and a second waveguide on the return side to which the second field is applied from the second signal electrode.

A method and apparatus for efficiently modulating light includes forming a lithium niobate waveguide with a slab region and a ridge region to confine an optical mode traversing the optical modulator under the ridge region. An electro-optic polymer is formed on a top surface of the lithium niobate waveguide with the slab region and the ridge region having dimension sufficient to support an evanescent tail of the optical mode traversing the optical modulator under the ridge region during modulation. Light is applied to an input of the lithium niobate waveguide. A drive voltage is applied to the electro-optic polymer that modulates the light with the evanescent tail so that the mode expands into the electro-optic polymer material a length that provides a desired switching voltage-length product (V.sub.π*L).

An optical device includes a silicon substrate, a waveguide formed of a thin film that is laminated on the silicon substrate and that is made of a perovskite oxide with a large electro-optic effect as compared to lithium niobate, and a cladding layer that covers the waveguide. Further, the optical device includes ground electrode that has a ground potential and a signal electrode that is arranged at a position facing the ground electrode and that applies driving voltage to the waveguide.

Disclosed is a system for arbitrary control of amplitude, phase and polarization characteristics of light in pulsed laser systems, allowing fast pulse-to-pulse modification of the above-mentioned parameters for single pulses or arbitrarily long and closely-spaced bursts of pulses. The control uses an electro-optic device, driving it by a specially designed high voltage driver. The operation of the driving electronics is based on the precise control of charging and discharging a Pockels cell inherent capacitance. This inherent capacitance is typically considered as parasitic. Therefore, prior voltage drivers operate in spite of the capacitance instead of using it. The present high voltage driver consists of a multitude of current-controlled stages capable of sinking and sourcing specific and adjustable currents into the capacitive load of the Pockels cell. The disclosed device and the corresponding control method allow for precise and energy-efficient shaping of Pockels cell control voltage.

An optical waveguide device includes a substrate on which an optical waveguide is formed, and a reinforcing block disposed on the substrate, along an end surface of the substrate on which an input portion or an output portion of the optical waveguide is disposed, in which an optical component that is joined to both the end surface of the substrate and an end surface of the reinforcing block is provided, a material used for a joining surface of the optical component and a material used for the substrate or the reinforcing block have at least different linear expansion coefficients of a direction parallel to the joining surface, and an area of the joining surface is set to be smaller than a maximum value of a total of areas of cross sections of the substrate and the reinforcing block parallel to the joining surface.

An optical modulator includes a relay substrate having signal conductor patterns that connect input signal terminals and signal electrodes of an optical modulation element and ground conductor patterns, and a housing that accommodates the optical modulation element and the relay substrate. Regarding at least one signal conductor pattern, the two ground conductor patterns sandwiching the signal conductor pattern are formed in an asymmetrical shape in a plan view in a rectangular connection area including a signal connection portion at which the signal conductor pattern and the input signal terminal are connected. The connection area is centered on the at least one signal conductor pattern in a width direction, and has a width equal to a distance to the nearest adjacent signal conductor pattern and a height equal to a distance from an end of the signal connection portion farthest from a signal input side to the signal input side.