Error analysis for refractive-index profile determination from near-field measurements

Refractive-index profiles of diffused optical waveguides are determined by analyzing the near-field pattern of the waveguide. For this method, a computer simulation of measurement errors due to noise, quantization, defocusing, and nonlinearity of the camera system is presented by using data of a typical camera measurement system. The simulation procedure includes signal processing of the measurement intensity profile by means of a cubic spline approximation in order to reduce the influence of the measurement system errors. The residual errors associated with this technique are on the order of a few percent when measuring typical Ti:LiNbO
₃
waveguides.