Planar Waveguides
Definition: waveguide structures guiding light only in one dimension
More general term: waveguides
German: ebene Wellenleiter
Categories: fiber optics and waveguides, photonic devices
How to cite the article; suggest additional literature
Author: Dr. Rüdiger Paschotta
Planar waveguides are waveguides with a planar geometry, which guide light only in one dimension. They are often fabricated in the form of a thin transparent film with increased refractive index on some substrate, or possibly embedded between two substrate layers. For example, a thin neodymium-doped YAG layer can be embedded in undoped YAG with slightly lower refractive index (see Figure 1).
Such active planar waveguides are sometimes used e.g. for optical amplifiers with high gain (compared with that of bulk amplifiers) and relatively high power (at least multiple watts). There are also planar waveguide lasers. Some of these devices can be pumped with a proximity-coupled laser diode, not requiring any pump optics.
Suppliers
The RP Photonics Buyer's Guide contains 2 suppliers for planar waveguides.
Questions and Comments from Users
Here you can submit questions and comments. As far as they get accepted by the author, they will appear above this paragraph together with the author’s answer. The author will decide on acceptance based on certain criteria. Essentially, the issue must be of sufficiently broad interest.
Please do not enter personal data here; we would otherwise delete it soon. (See also our privacy declaration.) If you wish to receive personal feedback or consultancy from the author, please contact him e.g. via e-mail.
By submitting the information, you give your consent to the potential publication of your inputs on our website according to our rules. (If you later retract your consent, we will delete those inputs.) As your inputs are first reviewed by the author, they may be published with some delay.
Bibliography
| [1] | A. W. Snyder and J. D. Love, Optical Waveguide Theory, Chapman and Hall, London (1983) |
See also: waveguides
and other articles in the categories fiber optics and waveguides, photonic devices
 |
If you like this page, please share the link with your friends and colleagues, e.g. via social media:
These sharing buttons are implemented in a privacy-friendly way!