Active photonic devices incorporating high dielectric constant materials

1. An optical switch structure comprising:

a substrate;

a first electrical contact;

a first material having a first conductivity type electrically connected to the first electrical contact;

a second material having a second conductivity type coupled to the first material;

a second electrical contact electrically connected to the second material; and

a waveguide structure disposed between the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact and comprising:

a waveguide core coupled to the substrate and including a first material characterized by a first index of refraction and a first electro-optic coefficient; and

a waveguide cladding at least partially surrounding the waveguide core and including a second material characterized by a second index of refraction less than the first index of refraction and a second electro-optic coefficient greater than the first electro-optic coefficient,

wherein:

the first electrical contact and the second electrical contact are configured to generate an applied electric field produced in the waveguide structure that is characterized by a direction; and

the waveguide cladding is characterized by an electro-optic coefficient tensor having a maximum value aligned along the direction and a DC Kerr effect and a Pockels effect having a same sign.

2. The optical switch structure of claim 1 wherein the first electro-optic coefficient and the second electro-optic coefficient are the Kerr coefficient χ (3) .

3. The optical switch structure of claim 1 wherein the first electro-optic coefficient and the second electro-optic coefficient are the Pockels coefficient χ (2) .

4. The optical switch structure of claim 1 wherein a guided mode supported by the waveguide core has a direction of polarization aligned with the direction.

5. The optical switch structure of claim 1 wherein the DC Kerr effect is positive and the Pockels effect is positive.

6. The optical switch structure of claim 5 wherein the waveguide cladding comprises a first material type, a majority of polarization domains are aligned with a positive z-direction, and the direction of the applied electric field is negative.

7. The optical switch structure of claim 5 wherein the waveguide cladding comprises a first material type, a majority of polarization domains are aligned with a negative z-direction, and the direction of the applied electric field is positive.

8. The optical switch structure of claim 5 wherein the waveguide cladding comprises a second material type, a majority of polarization domains are aligned with a positive z-direction, and the direction of the applied electric field is positive.

9. The optical switch structure of claim 5 wherein the waveguide cladding comprises a second material type, a majority of polarization domains are aligned with a negative z-direction, and the direction of the applied electric field is negative.

10. An optical switch structure comprising:

a substrate;

a waveguide structure coupled to the substrate;

a set of electrodes positioned adjacent the waveguide structure, wherein the set of electrodes are configured to establish an applied electric field having a component oriented along a lateral direction;

wherein the waveguide structure comprises:

a waveguide core configured to support a guided mode propagating along a longitudinal direction orthogonal to the lateral direction and including a first material characterized by a first index of refraction and a first electro-optic coefficient; and

a waveguide cladding at least partially surrounding the waveguide core and including a second material characterized by a second index of refraction less than the first index of refraction and a second electro-optic coefficient, wherein the waveguide cladding is characterized by a DC Kerr coefficient χ (3) and a Pockels coefficient χ (2) that are both associated with a positive change in index of refraction.

11. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the applied electric field has a component aligned with a negative z-direction, and a majority of polarization domains of the waveguide cladding are aligned with a positive z-direction.

12. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the applied electric field has a component aligned with a positive z-direction, and a majority of polarization domains of the waveguide cladding are aligned with a negative z-direction.

13. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the applied electric field has a component aligned with a positive z-direction, and a majority of polarization domains of the waveguide cladding are aligned with the positive z-direction.

14. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the applied electric field has a component aligned with a negative z-direction, and a majority of polarization domains of the waveguide cladding are aligned with a negative z-direction.

15. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the waveguide core comprises silicon.

16. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the waveguide core consists of silicon.

17. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the guided mode comprises a TE polarization mode.

18. The optical switch structure of claim 10 wherein the waveguide cladding comprises at least one of HfO 2 or Ta 2 O 5 .