Temperature-independent thin-film optical waveguide

Abstract

The concept of having the effective refractive index of an optical waveguide mode be independent of temperature is introduced. It is shown that this concept should be realizable with a Corning 7059 glass thin-film waveguide supported on a SiO(2)-Si substrate for a waveguide thickness of 0.37 microm. Measurements of effective refractive index as a function of temperature confirm this prediction of temperature independence in that they show a very small variation with temperature for a 0.35-microm thick waveguide in comparison with that for a 0.98-microm thick waveguide.