Process of fabricating electro-optic polymer devices with polymer sustained microelectrodes

1. A process for fabricating an electro-optic device, comprising: a) providing a substrate comprising at least two polymer micro-ridges, wherein each polymer micro-ridge comprises an upper surface and two walls, the two walls forming an angle with a lower surface; b) depositing a metal thin film on the upper surface, the two walls, and the lower surface; c) etching a predetermined amount of the deposited metal thin film on the lower surface, thereby forming two electrodes separated by a gap; d) depositing a nonlinear optical polymer in the gap between the two electrodes; and e) poling the nonlinear optical polymer to induce electro-optic activity.

2. The process of claim 1 , further comprising dry etching the electro-optic polymer so that the surface of the electro-optic polymer is substantially co-planar with the upper surface of the polymer micro-ridge.

3. The process of claim 2 , further comprising etching a predetermined amount of the deposited metal thin film on the upper surface.

4. The process of claim 3 , wherein etching a predetermined amount of the deposited metal thin film on the lower surface, the deposited metal thin film on the upper surface, or both according to a process comprises wet etching, dry etching, ion beam bombardment, or any combination thereof.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the width of the gap is about 2 μm to about 500 μm.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polymer micro-ridge comprises a linear polymer, a crosslinked polymer, an organically modified sol-gel, or any combination thereof.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the width of each polymer micro-ridge is about 2 μm to about 500 μm and the height of each of the two walls is about 200 nm to about 10 μm.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the angle between the two walls and the lower surface is about 90 degrees.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the upper surface and lower surface are substantially parallel.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein depositing the metal thin film according to a process comprising physical vapor deposition, thermal evaporation, or any combination thereof.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the metal thin film is selected from the group consisting of gold, platinum, titanium, and any combination thereof.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein etching a predetermined amount of the deposited metal thin film on the lower surface comprises wet etching, dry etching, ion beam bombardment, or any combination thereof.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lower surface comprises silicon dioxide.

14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the lower surface comprises a polymer.

15. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polymer micro-ridge and the lower surface comprise the same polymer.

16. The process of claim 1 , wherein the nonlinear optical polymer comprises a linear polymer, a crosslinkable polymer, an organically modified sol gel, or any combination thereof.

17. The process of claim 1 , wherein the nonlinear optical polymer is crosslinkable.

18. The process of claim 17 , further comprising crosslinking the nonlinear optical polymer.

19. The process of claim 18 , wherein crosslinking the nonlinear optical polymer occurs before poling, during poling, after poling, or any combination thereof.

20. The process of claim 17 , wherein crosslinking comprises exposing the nonlinear optical polymer to heat, actinic radiation, or any combination thereof.

21. The process of claim 1 , wherein the index of refraction of the nonlinear optical polymer is higher than the index of refraction of the lower surface.

22. The process of claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises more than two polymer micro-ridges.

23. The process of claim 22 , wherein the length of the polymer micro-ridges is about 2 μm to about 300 mm.

24. The process of claim 23 , wherein the polymer micro-ridges are interdigitated.