Guided Waves

Author: the photonics expert Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta

Definition: waves for which diffraction is suppressed by a waveguide structure

Category: article belongs to category fiber optics and waveguides fiber optics and waveguides

DOI: 10.61835/f8q Cite the article: BibTex plain text HTML Link to this page

Guided light waves are waves propagating in a waveguide structure, i.e., a spatially inhomogeneous structure which counteracts the beam expansion that would normally be caused by diffraction. The waveguide structure effectively eliminates the divergence of a guided wave, but also modifies other properties such as its wavenumber and chromatic dispersion (→ waveguide dispersion). Therefore, the properties of guided waves deviate in various respects from those of, e.g., plane waves. Such deviations are particularly large in cases where the waveguide dimensions are not much larger than the wavelength.

A particularly important example of guided optical waves is light propagating in optical fibers. These are flexible waveguides, i.e., they can be substantially bent before significant bend losses arise.

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