What is strip waveguides?

A strip waveguide is basically a strip of the guiding layer confined between cladding layers. The simplest case is a rectangular waveguide, which is formed when the guiding layer of the slab waveguide is restricted in both transverse directions rather than just one. Rectangular waveguides are used in integrated optical circuits, and in laser diodes. They are commonly used as the basis of such optical components as Mach-Zehnder interferometers and wavelength division multiplexers. The cavities of laser diodes are frequently constructed as rectangular optical waveguides. Optical waveguides with rectangular geometry are produced by a variety of means, usually by a planar process.

The field distribution in rectangular waveguide cannot be solved analytically, however approximate solution methods, such as Marcatili's method, are known.

May 31, 2012

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