Electro-optic modulation in an anisotropic artificial Kerr medium.

We describe the performance of intensity and phase modulators that use an aqueous suspension of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microparticles. In this medium, the electro-optic effect is caused by the reorientation of anisotropic microparticles in an applied electric field. The intensity modulator was constructed in the Kerr geometry by the use of a sample path length of 20 µm. The response time of the modulator is less than 25 ms, and the depth of modulation was measured to be 28 dB for a switching voltage of 134 V(rms). The switching voltage necessary to achieve a π-phase shift with the phase modulator is less than 30 (Vrms).