Electro-optical component and method for making the same

Claim 2

An electro-optical (e/o) component comprising: a mainly plane light-conducting layer supported on a substrate and having a potentially electro-optically active area, and at least two partly co-operating electrodes disposed against said layer in preselected patterns for generating an electric field with an effect extending into the potentially electro-optically active area by applying a difference in voltage between said electrodes, characterized in that the light conducting layer consists of a material having a potentiality for e/o activity which is destructible under exciting radiation, in which material a potentially electro-optically active area has been left undisturbed beforehand by a selective irradiation procedure by which potentiality for e/o activity was destroyed in at least one area of said material, and in that the electrodes are positioned, with regard to said area left undisturbed by said irradiation in such a way that a difference in voltage applied across the electrodes induces such a field distribution that at least in a border area on either side of the place where said area left undisturbed by said irradiation borders on irradiated material, the electric field will show a high degree of intensity or uniformity or both intensity and uniformity.

Claim 3

The electro-optical component of claim 1, characterized in that the electrodes are kept separated from the potentially electro-optically active area by buffer material which belongs to the irradiated part of the plane light-conducting layer.

Claim 4

The electro-optical component of claim 1, characterized in that the electrodes are situated on one side, called the upper side, of the light-conducting layer, and in that the potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed by said irradiation includes a potentially electro-optically inducible light waveguide pattern, the potentially electro-optically active area on the upper side, seen in a perpendicular projection on the layer, being flanked by a corresponding pattern of co-operating strip-shaped electrodes.

Claim 5

The electro-optical component of claim 1 characterized in that at least one electrode is situated on one side, called the upper side, and at least one electrode is situated on the under side of the light conducting layer, and in that said potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed by said irradiation includes a potentially electro-optically inducible light waveguide pattern, the potentially electro-optically active area, seen on the upper side in a perpendicular projection of the layer, being covered by a corresponding pattern of strip-shaped electrodes.

Claim 6

The electro-optical component of claim 1 characterized in that the potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed in the layer by said irradiation has, laterally with regard to that layer, substantially vertical bounding surfaces at its boundary with the irradiated area, and in that, seen from the upper side in a perpendicular projection on the layer, the contours of the electrodes situated on the upper side of the layer at least partly coincide with said potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed.

Claim 7

The electro-optical component of claim 1, characterized in that said potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed by said irriadiation includes a potentially electro-optically inducible light waveguide pattern, and in that the electrodes extend planarly over the whole layer on both the upper side and the under side of the light-conducting layer.

Claim 8

The electro-optical component of claim 1, characterized in that said potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed by said irriadiation includes a potentially electro-optically inducible grating pattern and in that the electrodes extend planarly at least over the whole grating pattern both on the upper side and on the under side of the light conducting layer.

Claim 9

The electro-optical component of claim 1, characterized in that the light-conducting layer includes at lesat one permanent light waveguide connected to said potentially electro-optically active area left undisturbed by said irriadiation in said border area.

Claim 10

An optical switch comprising an electro-optical component which itself comprises a mainly plane light-conducting layer having a potentially electro-optically active area and at least two cooperating electrodes disposed against said layer in preselected patterns for generating an electric field with an effect extending into the potentially electro-optically active area by applying a difference in voltage between said electrodes, said light conducting layer consisting of a material having a potentiality for electro-optical activity which is destructible under exciting radiation, in which material a potentially electro-optically active area has been left undisturbed by a said irradiation, said electrodes having been positioned with regard to said area left undisturbed by said irradiation in such a way that a difference in voltage applied across the electrodes induces such a field distribution that, at least in a border area on either side of the place where said area left undisturbed by said irradiation borders on irradiated material, exhibits a high degree of intensity or uniformity or both intensity and uniformity, said switch being, characterized in that, the light conducting layer includes at least three permanent light waveguides, which are connected to said potentially electro-optically active area, left undisturbed by said irradiation in said border area, and in that the connection of each of the light waveguides to said potentially electro-optically active area takes place at such an angle that for a light signal incident through a first one of the permanent light waveguides, a totally reflecting refractive index transition can be induced, and in that for a light signal incident through said first light waveguide, whether there is or is not a refractive index transition-inducing field, one of the other permanent light waveguides will receive and further conduct said light signal.

Claim 11

An optical switch comprising an electro-optical component which itself comprises a mainly plane light-conducting layer having a potentially electro-optically active area and at least two cooperating electrodes disposed against said layer in preselected patterns for generating an electric field with an effect extending into the potentially electro-optically active area by applying a difference in voltage between said electrodes, said light conducting layer consisting of a material having a potentiality for electro-optical activity which is destructible under exciting radiation, in which material a potentially electro-optically active area has been left undisturbed by a said irradiation, said electrodes having been positioned with regard to said area left undisturbed by said irradiation in such a way that a difference in voltage applied across the electrodes induces such a field distribution that, at least in a border area on either side of the place where said area left undisturbed by said irradiation borders on irradiated material, exhibits a high degree of intensity or uniformity or both intensity and uniformity, said switch being, characterized in that, the light conducting layer includes at least three permanent light waveguides, which are connected to said potentially electro-optically active area, left undisturbed by said irradiation in said border area, and in that the connection of each of the light waveguides to said potentially electro-optically active area takes place at such an angle that for a light signal incident through a first one of the permanent light waveguides, a totally reflecting refractive index transition can be induced, and in that for a light signal incident through said first light waveguide, whether there is or is not a refractive index transition-inducing field, one of the other permanent light waveguides will receive and further conduct said light signal.

Claim 12

The optical switch of claim 9, characterized in that the light-conducting layer includes four permanent light waveguides, which are connected to said electro-optically active area left undisturbed by said irradiation which, as seen perpendicularly to said mainly plane light-conducting layer, has a narrow rectangular cross section.

Claim 15

The method of claim 11, characterized in that the step of irradiating said layer is performed by irradiation with U.V. light.

Claim 16

The method of claim 11, including a second main step of providing on said layer at least one metallic electrode-layer disposed near said covered portions in said layer in a preselected pattern as performed by photolithographic technics using second masking means, characterized in that the first and the second masking means are the same.

Claim 17

The method of claim 13, characterized in that the metallic electrode-layer is opaque to said radiation and that the step of irradiating is performed after the second main step of providing the metallic electrode-layer using said electrode layer as the first masking means.

Claim 20

The method of claim 15, including a second main step of providing on said layer at least one metallic electrode-layer disposed near said covered portions in said layer in a preselected pattern as performed by photolithographic technics using second masking means, characterized in that the first and the second masking means are the same.

Claim 21

The method of claim 16, characterized in that the metallic electrode-layer is opaque to said radiation and that the step of irradiating is performed after the second main step of providing the metallic electrode-layer using said electrode layer as the first masking means.