Electro-optical component and method for making the same

Abstract

Electro-optical components and semi-manufactured articles, and method for making them. A light conducting layer is formed from a poleable or poled glassy polymer material, which has an under ionizing radiation definitively destructible e/o activity. A selective irradiation under a parallel beam will give sharp transitions (C, D) from an e/o active area (2.1) or an area which can still be activated to an e/o nonactive area. The buffer layers (3 and 5) can also consist of such like irradiated material. A suitable positioning of the electrodes (4 and 11) between which by means of a difference in voltage applied across the connections (12 and 13) an electric field with a sufficient intensity and/or uniformity can be induced extending into the border area, on both sides of the transition planes (C, D), will make sharp inducible refractive index transitions possible. This is utilized with e/o inducible waveguides in thin layers to obtain sharp lateral definitions, and in an optical intermediate switch.