Parameters of single-mode Ag+ ion-exchange glass waveguides

An investigation was made of the influence of the Ag⁺ diffusion conditions on the parameters of planar glass waveguides. The diffusion process had more than one stage, creating two regions with different characteristic dependences of the refractive index on depth (a quasitwo-layer waveguide). Industrial waveguide fabrication conditions were determined for ensuring not only a weak dependence of the effective refractive index of a mode on the waveguide depth, but also low insertion losses.