Graded-index planar dielectric waveguides

Properties of planar dielectric waveguides having a diffusion-induced index of refraction distribution are investigated. It is found that the spatial distribution of modes, group velocity, and mode spectrum of these guides differed qualitatively from the corresponding properties found in a slab waveguide. These results were experimentally verified by measuring the mode spectrum of a dielectric waveguide having an assumed complimentary error-function distribution of refractive index.