Abstract

Rapidly expanding interest in the use of integrated optical waveguide circuits has revealed a lack of understanding of the optical propagation characteristics in waveguides fabricated in practical birefringent materials. The relative simplicity of guided modes in isotropic waveguides is primarily due to the decoupling of the TE and TM modes. In general, such decoupling does not exist in anisotropic structures. Even though the range of values of the propagation constants for leaky and sustained guided modes as a function of the optic axis orientation is easily determined, the accurate values of propagation constants are not.

© 1986 Optical Society of America