Method for effective refractive index trimming of optical waveguiding structures and optical waveguiding structures thus obtained

摘要

A method for trimming an effective refractive index of an optical waveguiding structure, the optical waveguiding structure comprising one or more ridges (21) made of a core material adjacent to a layer of cladding material (22), the cladding material being a compactible material. The method comprises the steps of defining a compaction area on the cladding material next to and on opposite sides of at least one of the one or more ridges (21); and compacting the cladding material by irradiation of the cladding material only in said compaction area to create a strain in the core material of the at least one ridge, whereby the effective refractive index is trimmed.