Optical waveguides with metal cladding are important for a number of applications. However; metal cladding causes undesirable optical waveguide loss. In this work, the influence of high temperature process and different metals (Ti, NiCr, Cr) on waveguide loss is examined. Cr turns out to be the best candidate metal to deliver reasonable waveguide loss for more than 30 min heat-treating temperatures up to 250 degrees C. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society.