Improved variational analysis of inhomogeneous optical waveguides using Airy functions

Variational trial fields that are based on modified Airy functions are proposed to obtain the propagation characteristics of inhomogeneous planar optical waveguides. Comparison is made with other recently proposed trial fields to demonstrate the improved accuracy obtained through the use of these Airy function trial fields. The probable reason that the proposed fields are better suited than others is that, unlike the others, they depend on the profile shape. The argument of the Airy function trial field is also sensitive to the rate of change of the profile. The fields are thus better matched to the exact field, improving the variational results