The present invention relates to a multi-layer optical planar waveguide which is vertically coupled using multimode-interference couplers and to the method of manufacturing the same. The purpose of this invention is to increase the degree of integration on the multi-layer optical planar waveguide by applying the concept of via holes of the multi-layer printed circuit board (MLPCB) used in electronic circuits to the optical waveguide devices. According to the present invention, particularly, a multimode interference coupler of a stepped structure has the higher coupling ratio at relatively short length of interference than the usual multimode interference coupler. The present invention can implement a multimode interference coupler at a specialized spot while reducing evanescent field interference between the upper and lower optical waveguides out of the spot by separating the layers enough.