Transmission Switching Characteristics of PLZT Shutters.
The ON-OFF ratio, insertion loss, and switching speed of polycrystalline ferroelectric ceramic PLZT electrooptic shutters fabricated with a zirconium to titanium ratio of 65 to 35 and a lanthanum concentration of approximately 8% were investigated as functions of voltage amplitude and duration. Larger ON-OFF ratios (33 dB for dc mode) were observed for the chemically prepared material than for the mixed oxide material (18 dB). Similar results were observed in the pulsed mode. The relatively low insertion losses (4.5 dB) and fast half-wave retardation switching ( approximately 1 microsec) are acceptable for many shutter applications. Observed variations of these characteristics with number of switching cycles are undesirable.
Landry
M J
MJ
McCarthy
A E
AE