| Abstract: | The electrooptic properties of hot-pressed lead zirconate titanate ceramics and their applications are reviewed. Coarse-grained, bismuth-doped ceramics with average grain size greater than 2 ?m have light scattering properties that can be varied by switching the orientation of the ferroelectric polarization. Fine-grained bismuth-or lanthanum-doped ceramics have an effective birefringence that can be varied either by applying an external electric field (conventional electrooptic effect) or by partially switching the remanent polarization (electrooptic memory effect). Ba, Sn, or La modifications of the lead zirconate titanate system produce materials with improved switching characteristics and electrooptic effects similar to those of fine-grained bismuth-or lanthanum-doped ceramics. Lanthanum modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) is significantly more transparent than other electrooptic ceramics. The PLZT system includes materials with electrooptic memory and either linear or quadratic electrooptic effects. The electrooptic properties of modified lead zirconate titanate ceramics, especially PLZT, combined with localized switching and modulation capabilities are particularly suitable for information storage and display devices. |
