ABSTRACT
The term “integrated optics” was first coined in 1969, as an analogy of lightwave to the electronic integrated circuits. Various integrated optical devices have been researched, developed and deployed in practical optical transmission systems and networks. The basic component of these integrated photonic devices is the optical waveguide formed by a thin film or diffused waveguiding layer structure on some substrate. This chapter describes the formation of planar optical waveguides with a derivation of the wave equation for the guiding of either transverse electric or transverse magnetic mode or both. Single mode planar optical waveguides are the main focus and thus all the guiding conditions are established along this line of theoretical treatment. The chapter outlines an approximate analytical method for the solutions of asymmetric index profile waveguides including the variational and WKB techniques. Optical waveguides with a symmetric planar index profile are also explained in the chapter.
