Applicability of the effective index method for simulating ridge optical waveguides

The accuracy of the effective index method in calculations of ridge optical waveguides is estimated by comparing the results of calculations with the results obtained by the finite element method. A comparison of the values of the refractive index for the fundamental mode and the corresponding near and far-field intensity distributions for the waveguide structure typical of semiconductor ridge lasers emitting at 0.98 μm demonstrates a rather high accuracy of the effective index method in calculations of ridge waveguide structures and radiative characteristics of semiconductor lasers based on them.