The Yb3+-doped phosphate glass waveguides by the hydrogen-ion implantation under the condition of energies of (0.5+0.55) MeV and doses of (1.0+2.0) × 1016 ions/cm2 were fabricated, and characteristics of the waveguide were studied in the near-infrared band. The change of refractive index after the implantation was measured by the prism coupling method, which corresponded well with the calculated effective refractive index by the reflectivity calculation method. The formation theory of the ion-implanted planar waveguides was discussed through simulating the vacancy distribution induced by the irradiation. The propagation mode of light in the waveguide was simulated by using the FD-BPM, which suggested that the near-infrared waveguide structure could be fabricated by irradiating the Yb3+-doped phosphate glass with the energetic hydrogen ions. © 2020, Science Press. All right reserved.