Patent ID: 7231101

Claim:
An electro-optic waveguide device comprising: an electro-optic substrate having one or more optical waveguides formed therein adjacent a surface thereof; a buffer layer carried by the surface of the electro-optic substrate, a block layer supported by the buffer layer and having a greater electrical resistance than the buffer layer, for lessening temporal or thermal drift of the electro-optic waveguide device or for suppressing or lessening an unwanted chemical reaction at or near the surface of the buffer layer; a charge bleed off layer supported by the block layer, having an amount of electrical conductivity for bleeding off electrical charges generated on or in the electro-optic waveguide device, and electrodes on the charge bleed off layer for providing electrical signals to the optical waveguides through the buffer layer, the block layer, and the charge bleed off layer, wherein the buffer layer is formed upon the surface of the electro-optic substrate, the block layer is formed upon the buffer layer, and the charge bleed layer is formed upon the block layer wherein the buffer layer is made of a doped silicon oxide compound material comprising a majority part of silicon oxide and any dopants giving a relatively higher electrical conductivity than pure silicon oxide.