Electro-optic polymer prism beam deflector

We report on an optical beam deflector capable of achieving a large beam deflection using a planar thermoplastic-based electro-optic (EO) polymer prism. By optimizing the prism's geometry, relative position, and incident angle of the input beam, the device shows that a large deflection angle can be achieved through a relatively small index change from a single EO polymer prism stage. In this paper, we present the design and fabrication of the deflector using a simple hot-embossing technique. Beam deflection experiments were conducted, and a maximum deflection angle of 5.6 deg was observed, in agreement with our predicted value. (C) 2009 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3264959]