Abstract

A device for modulating the effective refractive index of a guided wave can be viewed as having a nonlinear input-output characteristic, with the effective refractive index as output and the bulk refractive index of the active (e.g., electrooptic) medium as the input. As with any such device, proper “biasing” of the input can result in a large incremental, or small-signal, sensitivity. In a multilayer dielectric waveguide, obtaining a large incremental effective index sensitivity (IEIS) is equivalent to the problem of synthesizing total internal reflecting structures with prescribed dependence of phase shift on angle of incidence. The required dependence can be achieved with five dielectric layers, over a narrow range of effective index. In this case, the IEIS is limited primarily by thickness tolerances and introduction of additional guided modes.

© 1977 Optical Society of America

Effective electro-optic coefficient of multilayer dielectric waveguides: Modulation enhancement

A. B. Buckman
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 66(1) 30-34 (1976)

Wave propagation in semileaky-type anisotropic thin-film optical waveguides

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A simple method for calculating the optical properties of multilayer-dielectric reflectors*

M. Sparks
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Coupled power theorem and orthogonality relations for optical disk waveguides

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