Guided-wave optical circuit and method for adjusting a characteristic thereof

Abstract

A method for adjusting a characteristic of a guided-wave optical circuit which includes one or more waveguides formed by a substrate, a cladding layer formed on the substrate, and a core portion having one or more cores embedded in the cladding layer. The method is carried out by producing a reversible thermal hysteresis phenomenon, after the clading layer and core portion have been formed. The thermal hysteresis phenomenon is produced in a thermal hysteresis produced region preselected so as to include at least a portion of the cladding layer and/or the core portion, thereby adjusting a refractive index difference between the cladding layer and the core portion. To produce a reversible thermal hysteresis phenomenon, the following steps are carried out: raising the temperature of the thermal hysteresis produced region to a predetermined temperature; maintaining the predetermined temperature of the thermal hysteresis produced region for a predetermined time period; and cooling the thermal hysteresis produced region at a predetermined cooling rate. At least one of the values of the predetermined temperature, predetermined time period, and predetermined cooling rate is controlled so that the refractive index difference between the cladding layer and the core portion is adjusted to a desired value, thereby adjusting the characteristic of the guided-wave optical circuit.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.