Patent ID: 8860897

Claim:
A waveguide for controllably altering an optical phase delay of light traveling along a propagation direction through the waveguide, comprising: a core for guiding the light through the waveguide; cladding on opposite sides of the core, and a channel formed in the cladding on at least one of the opposite sides of the core to laterally guide the light through the core, the channel defining an inverted ridge in the core, wherein at least one cladding adjacent the core has liquid crystal molecules disposed therein; at least one alignment layer positioned between the at least one cladding and the core, the alignment layer initially aligning at least a portion of the liquid crystal molecules in an initial orientation; a flat surface constructed of a single material, the flat surface covering the channel so that the flat surface is between the channel and both the alignment layer for the liquid crystal molecules and the at least one cladding having the liquid crystal molecules to prevent the channel from impacting alignment of the liquid crystal molecules disposed in the at least one cladding; and a pair of electrodes for receiving a voltage, the pair of electrodes being positioned adjacent the core; wherein as the voltage is applied to the pair of electrodes, an electric field is created between the electrodes and through a portion of the at least one cladding, a portion of the electric field being oriented substantially parallel to a plane of the waveguide so that the alignment of at least a portion of the liquid crystal molecules changes from the initial orientation to a second orientation, thereby changing the optical phase delay for the light traveling through the waveguide.