Recent developments in hybrid electro-optic (EO) systems, in which an organic material with an ultra-large second-order susceptibility is combined with silicon (SOH) or gold (POH) waveguides at the nanoscale, have enabled breakthrough EO performance in devices that can be implemented in post-CMOS processes. Tight confinement of the optical and RF fields in hybrid devices has enabled operating frequencies &gt;500 GHz and voltage-length parameters (U<sub>π</sub>L) as low as 40-50 V-μm with existing high-performance organic electro-optic (OEO) materials. Development of higher performance materials has brought a further order of magnitude improvement in to reach. However, the EO performance of organic materials declines in narrower waveguides; as the interfacial region dominates the device, the influence of EO chromophore-surface interactions become increasingly critical. Achieving the next breakthrough in performance requires understanding these interactions and mitigating them via combinations of inorganic charge blocking layers and self-assembled organic layers. We discuss approaches to mitigating these interactions and improving order, as well as simulation, spectroscopic, and electro-optic data characterizing several of these approaches towards achieving optimal EO performance in nanoscale systems.

Interfacial considerations for hybrid organic electro-optic devices

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

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