Integrated Optical Microstructures Examination by Fluorescence

In this paper we shall review a method permitting the observation of optical fields propagating in microstructures for integrated optics. This method is based on the observation of the fluorescence emitted by a thin plastic film deposited upon the structure to be examined. Some results concerning the observation of passive waveguides and LiNbO3 diffused waveguides will be presented. In particular transitions between guides of various widths and directional couplers were examined and we will present photographs and quantitative measurements made on these structures.