Waveguides and devices incorporating optically functional cladding regions

An electrooptic clad waveguide comprising an optical waveguide core defining a primary axis of propagation z, a first cladding region offset from said z axis in a first direction along an x axis perpendicular to said z axis, a second cladding region offset from said z axis in a second direction along said x axis, and first and second control electrodes, wherein:

• said optical waveguide core comprises a substantially non-electrooptic material defining a refractive index n1;
• said first cladding region comprises an electrooptic polymer defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• said second cladding region comprises an electrooptic polymer defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• said first and second control electrodes are arranged to enable electrooptic modification of said refractive indices of said first and second cladding regions by creating a contoured electric field in said first and second cladding regions;
• said electrooptic polymer of said first cladding region is configured such that its polar axes are oriented substantially along the contour of said electric field;
• said electrooptic polymer of said second cladding region is configured such that its polar axes are oriented substantially along the contour of said electric field;
• and
• said contoured electric field and said respective directions of polarization in said first and second cladding regions define a substantially polarization-independent waveguide structure along said primary axis of propagation of said electrooptic clad waveguide.

An integrated optical device comprising first and second electrooptic clad waveguides arranged to define a directional coupling region, a set of control electrodes, first and second optical inputs, and first and second optical outputs, wherein:

• said first electrooptic clad waveguide comprises a substantially non-electrooptic optical waveguide core defining a refractive index n1;
• said waveguide core of said first waveguide is disposed between a first outer electrooptic cladding region and an electrooptic gap region in said directional coupling region;
• said first outer cladding region comprises an electrooptic polymer defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• said electrooptic polymer of said first outer cladding region is configured such that its polar axes are oriented along a common contour;
• said electrooptic gap region comprises an electrooptic polymer defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• said electrooptic polymer of said gap region is configured such that its polar axes are oriented in a common direction;
• said second electrooptic clad waveguide comprises a substantially non-electrooptic optical waveguide core defining a refractive index n1;
• said waveguide core of said second waveguide is disposed between a second outer electrooptic cladding region and said electrooptic gap region in said directional coupling region;
• said second outer cladding region comprises an electrooptic polymer defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• said electrooptic polymer of said second outer cladding region is configured such that its polar axes are oriented along a common contour;
• said control electrodes are arranged to create an electric field across said outer cladding regions and said electrooptic gap region, whereby an optical signal incident in one of said waveguides may be switched to the other of said waveguides.

An optical waveguide comprising an optical input, an optical output, and a waveguide core, wherein:

• said waveguide core defines a core height dimension h that remains substantially constant between said optical input and said optical output;
• said core width dimension defines an input width w1 at said optical input, an output width w2 at said optical output, an increased-width w0 along a phase compensating element of said waveguide core, and a decreased-width w3 along a thinned-down portion of said waveguide core;
• said increased-width w0 is greater than said input width;
• said decreased-width w3 is less than said input width;
• and
• the relative values of said increased-width w0 and said decreased-width w3 are such that said phase compensating element compensates for a phase change induced in an optical signal propagating through said thinned down portion of said waveguide core.

An electrooptic clad waveguide comprising an optical waveguide core defining a primary axis of propagation z, a first cladding region offset from said z axis in a first direction along an x axis perpendicular to said z axis, and a second cladding region offset from said z axis in a second direction along said x axis, wherein:

• said optical waveguide core comprises an optically non-functional material defining a refractive index n1;
• said first cladding region comprises an optically functional material defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• said second cladding region comprises an optically functional material defining a refractive index that is less than n1;
• and
• said optically functional material of said first cladding region is configured such that its polar axes are oriented in a direction different than a direction in which polar axes of said optically functional material of said second cladding region are oriented.

An optical waveguide comprising an optical input, an optical output, and a waveguide core, wherein:

• said waveguide core defines a core height dimension h that remains substantially constant between said optical input and said optical output;
• said core width dimension defines an increased-width w0 along a phase compensating element of said waveguide core, and a decreased-width w3 along a thinned-down portion of said waveguide core;
• said decreased-width w3 is less than said core height dimension h;
• said increased-width w0 is greater than said core height dimension h;
• and
• the relative values of said increased-width w0 and said decreased-width w3 are such that said phase compensating element compensates for a phase change induced in an optical signal propagating through said thinned down portion of said waveguide core.