We report on the formation of the planar waveguide by 550 keV O ion followed by 250 keV O ion implantation in lithium niobate (LiNbO3), at fluences of 6 x 10(14) ions/cm(2) and 3 x 10(14) ions/cm(2), respectively. The Rutherford backscattering/channeling spectra have shown the atomic displacements in the damage region before and after annealing. A broad and nearly homogeneous damage layer has been formed by double-energy ion implantation after annealing. Both the dark mode spectra and the data of refractive index profile verified that the extraordinary refractive index was enhanced in the ion implanted region of LiNbO3. A homogeneous near-field intensity profile was obtained by double-low-energy ion implantation. There is a reasonable agreement between the simulated modal intensity profile and the experimental data. The estimated propagation loss is about 0.5 dB/cm. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.