Structure of optical guided modes in planar multilayers of optically anisotropic materials

A procedure for calculating the mode structure in optical waveguides made up of multilayers of optically anisotropic media is derived. This procedure is applicable to a waveguide of any arbitrary number of layers, with each layer homogeneous but otherwise having arbitrary dielectric, magnetic-permeability, and optical-rotation tensors. The substrate is included as an end layer of large, but finite, thickness. When programmed for the computer, the method provides a powerful and useful tool for analyzing a waveguide consisting of any complex array of anisotropic layers, requiring simply specification of the relevant material tensors and layer thicknesses as inputs. The sequence of steps involved in the procedure is illustrated by two examples that can be carried out explicitly, viz., that of an isotropic dielectric layer and that of a uniaxial crystal layer.