Device including a substrate-supported optical waveguide, and method of manufacture

Abstract From the Canadian patent

In the manufacture of optical devices such as e.g. optical, communications assemblies and optical gyroscopes low-loss substrate-supported, optical waveguides are desired. Such waveguides can be obtained by patterning a layer of deposited waveguide material and in the interest of minimizing loss asmay be due to processing-induced surface roughness waveguides as patterned, preferably undergo a heat treatment which results in surface smoothing and in rounding of the waveguide cross section. Furthermore in the interest of avoiding, re-entrant corners between substrate and waveguide a wetting layer may be, applied to the waveguide prior to heat treatment.