Theory, fabrication and performance of some integrated optical devices

Recent progress in the fabrication of low attenuation optical fibers raises the attractive possibility of optical communications via these waveguides. Integration of different optical functions on one substrate in the form of optical circuits will form ideal terminals for such a communication network. We shall discuss the theory, fabrication and performance of a few "building stones" of such optical circuits. Optical directional couplers capable of coupling light from one channel to another will be described and their use as switches will be discussed. Distributed feedback for integrated lasers will be analyzed. Laser action in a GaAs waveguide, in which distributed feedback was supplied by corrugations fabricated on the surface, will be described. Longitudinal and transverse mode control of such a laser will also be discussed. We shall conclude with an analysis of nonlinear interactions in thin films, pointing out new methods for phase matching and ways to implement them