There is provided a method of making an optical polymer waveguide having an arbitrary refractive index profile, the method including: a) providing a first input optical beam having a first beam intensity profile and a second input optical beam having a second beam intensity profile; b) combining the first and second input optical beams to form an output optical beam having an output beam intensity profile; and c) forming the optical waveguide on a substrate by: exposing the optical materials of the waveguide to the output optical beam; and curing the optical materials using said output optical beam.