Patent ID: 8005332

Claim:
An optical waveguide, comprising: a substrate made of a solid material and multiple layers of solid-state material disposed on the substrate; a non-solid core extending through at least one of said multiple layers, whereby said non-solid core may be used to contain a vapor; an intersecting waveguide portion for use in injecting light into said non-solid core; and a vapor reservoir for use in containing the vapor in communication with said non-solid core; wherein said multiple layers of solid-state material are constructed to form anti-resonant reflecting layers adjacent to said non-solid core, whereby light is substantially prevented from leaking out of said core in a transverse direction; wherein an airtight seal couples the vapor reservoir to the substrate and a vapor source material is contained in the vapor reservoir; and wherein the optical waveguide, including the vapor reservoir and vapor source material, is configured such that an optical beam path defined by the intersecting waveguide is filled with source material atoms transferred to the vapor phase due to vapor pressure of the source material and the pressure and temperature of the reservoir.