The channel waveguides disclosed herein have bend compensation in the form of at least one compensated bend section. The channel waveguides are formed in a glass-based substrate having a glass-based matrix. The channel waveguide has an waveguide IOX region with a straight section and a bend section. The waveguide IOX region at the bend section is superimposed with a quasi-linear modifying IOX region to form a compensated bend IOX region that defines the compensated bend section. The compensated bend section has a reduced amount of optical loss as compared to if the compensated bend section had a refractive index profile that was the same as the straight section. Methods of forming the compensated bend sections for the channel waveguides are also disclosed.

The channel waveguides disclosed herein have bend compensation in the form of at least one compensated bend section. The channel waveguides are formed in a glass-based substrate having a glass-based matrix. The channel waveguide has an waveguide IOX region with a straight section and a bend section. The waveguide IOX region at the bend section is superimposed with a quasi-linear modifying IOX region to form a compensated bend IOX region that defines the compensated bend section. The compensated bend section has a reduced amount of optical loss as compared to if the compensated bend section had a refractive index profile that was the same as the straight section. Methods of forming the compensated bend sections for the channel waveguides are also disclosed.

The glass waveguide assembly includes a substrate with glass optical waveguides formed in the body of the glass substrate without adding or removing any glass from the substrate body. The glass optical waveguides run generally from a front-end section to a back-end section. A protective coating is formed over at least a portion of the top surface of the glass substrate where the glass optical waveguides reside. Optical connectors are formed at or adjacent the back end at corresponding connector regions. Each connector includes an end portion of at least one of the glass optical waveguides. In some configurations, the glass waveguide assembly includes a bend section that facilitates forming an optical interconnection in a photonic system between an optical-electrical printed circuit board and photonic integrated circuit.

The prism coupling methods disclosed herein are directed to determining a stress characteristic of an original IOX article having a buried IOX region with a buried refractive index profile that is problematic in the sense that it prevents the original IOX article from being measured using a prism coupler system. The methods include modifying the buried IOX region of the original IOX article in a surface portion of the buried IOX region to form a modified IOX article having an unburied refractive index profile that allows the modified IOX article to be measured using a prism coupler. The methods also include measuring a mode spectrum of the modified IOX article using the prism coupler system. The methods further include determining one or more stress characteristic of the original IOX article from the mode spectrum of the modified IOX article.

The evanescent optical coupler is constituted by an IOX waveguide and an optical fiber. The IOX waveguide is formed in a glass substrate and has a tapered section that runs in an axial direction. The IOX waveguide supports a waveguide fundamental mode having an waveguide effective index N.sub.W0 that varies within a range N.sub.W0 as a function of the axial direction. The IOX waveguide can also support a few higher-order modes. The optical fiber supports a fiber fundamental mode having a fiber effective index N.sub.F0 that falls within the waveguide effective index range N.sub.W0 of the waveguide fundamental mode of the tapered section of the IOX waveguide. A portion of the optical fiber is interfaced with the tapered section of the IOX waveguide to define a coupling region over which evanescent optical coupling occurs between the optical fiber and the IOX waveguide.

An optical coupler (1) for coupling light in/out of an optical receiving/emitting structure comprises an optical fiber (100), a supporting device (200) to support the optical fiber (100) comprising a supporting structure (210) in which the optical fiber is arranged, and a covering device (300) to cover the supporting structure. An end face (E100a) of the optical fiber (100) is configured to reflect the light to one of the supporting device (200) and the covering device (300) comprising a first area and a second area (210, 220, 310, 320) being provided with a respective different index of refraction or a change of the respective index of refraction so that the first area (310) is configured as one of an optical waveguide (311) and at least one optical lens (312) being embedded in the second area and forming an optical pathway in said one of the supporting device and the covering device.

The low-loss ion exchanged (IOX) waveguide disclosed herein includes a glass substrate having a top surface and comprising an alkali-aluminosilicate glass with between 3 and 15 mol % of Na.sub.2O and a concentration of Fe of 20 parts per million (ppm) or less. The glass substrate includes a buried AgNa IOX region, wherein this region and a surrounding portion of glass substrate define the IOX waveguide. The IOX waveguide has an optical loss OL?0.05 dB/cm and a birefringence magnitude |B|?0.001. The glass substrate with multiple IOX waveguides can be used as an optical backplane for systems having optical functionality and can find use in data center and high-performance data transmission applications.

Methods of forming ion-exchanged waveguides in glass substrates are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of forming a waveguide in an ion-exchanged glass substrate having an ion-exchanged layer extending from a surface to a depth of layer of the ion-exchanged glass substrate includes locally heating at least one band at the surface of the ion-exchanged glass substrate to diffuse ions in the ion-exchanged layer within the at least one band. A concentration of ions within the at least one band is less than a concentration of ions outside of the at least one band, and at least one waveguide is defined within the ion-exchanged layer adjacent the at least one band. In some embodiments, the at least one waveguide is embedded within the ion-exchanged glass substrate such that an upper surface of the at least one waveguide is below the surface of the glass substrate by a depth d.

The low-loss ion exchanged (IOX) waveguide disclosed herein includes a glass substrate having a top surface and comprising an alkali-aluminosilicate glass with between 3 and 15 mol % of Na.sub.2O and a concentration of Fe of 20 parts per million (ppm) or less. The glass substrate includes a buried AgNa IOX region, wherein this region and a surrounding portion of glass substrate define the IOX waveguide. The IOX waveguide has an optical loss OL?0.05 dB/cm and a birefringence magnitude |B|?0.001. The glass substrate with multiple IOX waveguides can be used as an optical backplane for systems having optical functionality and can find use in data center and high-performance data transmission applications.

The glass waveguide assembly includes a substrate with glass optical waveguides formed in the body of the glass substrate without adding or removing any glass from the substrate body. The glass optical waveguides run generally from a front-end section to a back-end section. A protective coating is formed over at least a portion of the top surface of the glass substrate where the glass optical waveguides reside. Optical connectors are formed at or adjacent the back end at corresponding connector regions. Each connector includes an end portion of at least one of the glass optical waveguides. In some configurations, the glass waveguide assembly includes a bend section that facilitates forming an optical interconnection in a photonic system between an optical-electrical printed circuit board and photonic integrated circuit.