Phys.org November 20, 2019
Researchers in Japan have developed a light modulator using the Pockels effect of water in a nanometer-thick electric double layer on an electrode surface. The modulator comprises a transparent-oxide electrode on a glass substrate immersed in an aqueous electrolyte solution. When an optical beam is incident such that it is totally reflected at the electrode-water interface, the light is modulated at a specific wavelength with a near-100% modulation depth synchronized with the frequency of the applied AC voltage. Pockels effect has applications in optical engineering, optical communication, displays and electric sensors and the enhancement principle opens the possibility of using any interface that exists universally…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLEÂ
Extracting light modulation using the interfacial Pockels effect. Credit: Prof Eiji Tokunaga, Tokyo University of Science