Patent ID: 7389029

Claim:
A photonic waveguide comprising of: a substrate, a first layer of a nanomaterial, a second layer of a nanomaterial, a third layer of the first nanomaterial, a fourth layer of an optical material, wherein the second layer has a higher refractive index than the first layer, wherein the third layer has the same refractive index as the first layer, wherein the first layer is the bottom cladding, wherein the second layer is the guiding layer, wherein the third layer is the top cladding, wherein the fourth layer is a cover layer, wherein the second layer is patterned to form the core of the waveguide, wherein the first and the third layers enclose the second layer, thus forming a waveguide, wherein the waveguiding is accomplished by the natural index contrast (NIC) method where the NIC value is given by Δ ⁢ ⁢ n = n 2 - n 1 n 1 × 100 , wherein n 1 is the refractive index of cladding layer and n 2 is the refractive index of the core layer, wherein the NIC value has a range of >0% to ˜240%, wherein the guiding layer also has the ability to amplify an optical signal, thus, an amplifying layer, wherein the guiding layer also has the ability to modulate an optical signal, thus a modulating layer, wherein the guiding layer is doped with at least a first dopant to amplify an optical signal, wherein the guiding layer is also doped with at least a second dopant to modulate an optical signal.