Abstract
A theory is developed which describes the diffraction of guided optical beams into the same or other modes of the waveguide structure. Expressions are derived for the coupling constants connecting the incident and diffracted beams. Numerical calculations on a hypothetical waveguide structure indicate that, for holograms written at the intersection of two guided beams, the effects of modal dispersion are weak as long as neither the incident nor the diffracted modes are near cutoff. In the converse case, where one of these beams is near cutoff, strong effects of modal dispersion appear.

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