Lightwave Logic Inc (LWLG)

[BSmith72]

You can. It depends on what type of test setup you use.

If the mechanical effects are large they can mask the EO effect. Trapped charge is something you don't want during the poling process (unless you want to create a piezoelectric device which does have potential applications)

Piezoelectric effects are a 1st order effect. In ellipsometric methods it usually can be ignored because you are concerned with the s and p polarization states. If the effect is large you will have a change in optical path through the material due to the change in the thickness of the film. This leads to a beam deviation on the detector which simulates modulation which in fact it is not.

In interferometry test methods the piezoelectric effect needs to ALWAYS be measured before you measure EO contribution. A small piezoelectric contribution can really skew your measured EO results.

Electrostriction exists in all materials but is a second order effect (2omega). Typically this can be ignored but it can be an issue for tunable filters that operate at DC voltages. The electrostriction will cause a nonlinearity in tunability for high voltages.

Even at high speeds there may be some mechanical effects so care needs to be taken to account for those affects.