Analysis of the refractive-index profile in ion-exchanged waveguides

Graded-index waveguides in glass have been produced by different ion-exchange processes, and their optical characteristics measured to check the consistency of two numerical methods for a proper modelling of the refractive index profile: the results obtained by the two methods appear to be in quite good agreement in most of the cases. An external reference was provided by direct RBS measurements of the concentration of exchanged ions.