Inhwan Kim Final Defense

Ferroelectric oxide materials, such as barium titanate (BaTiO3) and lithium niobate (LiNbO3), exhibit exceptional electro-optic (EO) properties that make them attractive candidates for photonic modulators, waveguides, and related optical devices. Despite decades of experimental study, the microscopic origins of their large Pockels coefficients, the mechanisms governing optical propagation losses in thin-film devices, and the electronic properties of metal-oxide interfaces remain incompletely understood. This study presents a comprehensive first-principles investigation of the electronic and optical properties of ferroelectric oxides, spanning the linear electro-optic response, and waveguide optical losses.