Onechip Photonics Inc.

Metrophotonics Inc.

Electrophotonic-ic Inc.

Artic Photonics Inc.

Enablence Inc.

Fang Wu

Kirill Pimenov

Yury Logvin

Christopher Watson

Valery Tolstikhin

Adrian O'Donnell

Yongbo Tang

Valery I Tolstikhin

Valery I Tolshikhin

A VCSEG-DFB laser, fully compatible with MGVI design and manufacturing methodologies, for single growth monolithic integration in multi-functional PICs is presented. It comprises a laser PIN structure, in mesa form, etched from upper emitter layer top surface through the active, presumably MQW, gain region, down to the top surface of the lower emitter. Lower electrical contacts sit adjacent the mesa disposed on the lower emitter layer with upper strip contacts disposed atop the upper emitter layer on the mesa top. An SEG is defined/etched from mesa top surface, between the upper strip contacts, through upper emitter layer down to or into the SCH layers. Vertical confinement is provided by the SCH structure and the lateral profile in the bottom portion of the mesa provides lateral confinement. The guided mode interacts with the SEG by the vertical tail penetrating the SEG and evanescent field coupling to the SEG.

Vertically-coupled surface-etched grating DFB laser

The invention describes an integrated photonics platform comprising a plurality of at least three vertically-stacked waveguides which enables light transfer from one waveguide of the photonic structure into another waveguide by means of controlled tunneling method. The light transfer involves at least three waveguides wherein light power flows from initial waveguide into the final waveguide while tunneling through the intermediate ones. As an exemplary realization of the controlled tunneling waveguide integration, the invention describes a photonic integrated structure consisting of laser guide as upper waveguide, passive guide as middle waveguide, and modulator guide as lower waveguides. Controlled tunneling is enabled by the overlapped lateral tapers formed on the same or different vertical waveguide levels. In the further embodiments, the controlled tunneling platform is modified to implement wavelength-(de)multiplexing, polarization-splitting and beam-splitting functions.

Controlled tunneling waveguide integration (CTWI) for effective coupling between different components in a photonic chip

Disclosed herein is a monolithically integrated coherent receiver chip which has a geometric arrangement of the on-chip components that significantly improves the performance and the manufacturability of a coherent receiver module for Dual Polarization Quadrature Phase Shift Keyed (DP-QPSK) applications and other optical coherent detection systems. The coherent receiver chip comprises two optical hybrids, three optical inputs and eight electrical outputs with the two optical hybrids oriented perpendicular to the optical inputs and the electrical outputs which are widely spaced and arranged in a co-linear fashion that simplifies module design and assembly. The proposed geometric arrangement also replaces any optical waveguide crossings with vertical electrical-optical crossings and includes electrical transmissions which are used to minimize channel skew. The proposed configuration also has the additional benefit of improved thermal management by separating the module's trans-impedance amplifiers.

Integrated coherent receiver having a geometric arrangement for improved device efficiency

The invention describes an integrated-photonics arrangement, implementable in a multi-guide vertical integration (MGVI) structure composed from III-V semiconductors and grown in one epitaxial growth run, allowing for the integration of semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) and PIN photodetector (PIN) structures within a common wavelength-designated waveguide of the plurality of the vertically integrated wavelength-designated waveguides forming the MGVI structure. The integration includes a wavelength filter integrated between the SOA and PIN to reduce noise within the PIN arising from ASE generated by the SOA. In exemplary embodiments of the invention, the wavelength filter is integrated into MGVI structure either within a common wavelength designated waveguide or within the wavelength-designated waveguide. Further in other embodiments the wavelength filter is provided by a thin-film filter abutting a facet of the integrated-photonics arrangement wherein optical signals are coupled by optical waveguides and/or additional optical elements such as a multimode interference device.

Waveguide optically pre-amplified detector with passband wavelength filtering

The invention describes method and apparatus for a mode converter enabling an adiabatic transfer of a higher order mode into a lower order optical mode within a photonic integrated circuit exploiting integrated semiconductor ridge waveguide techniques. As disclosed by the invention, such a mode conversion is achievable by using an asymmetric coupler methodology. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, the invention is used to provide a low insertion loss optical connection between laterally-coupled DFB laser operating in first order mode and passive waveguide operating in the zero order optical mode. The integrated arrangement fabricated by using one-step epitaxial growth allows for a launch of the laser's light into the waveguide circuitry operating in the zero order lateral mode or efficiently coupling it to single-mode fiber, an otherwise high loss interface due to the difference in laser and optical fiber modes.

Integrated lateral mode converter

The invention describes an integrated-photonics arrangement, implementable in a multi-layer III-V semiconductor structure, which has a semiconductor substrate; an epitaxial semiconductor structure grown on this substrate in one growth step; a common waveguide; and a plurality of wavelength-designated waveguides; all the waveguides being formed in this epitaxial structure using conventional semiconductor processing techniques. Each waveguide being defined by the bandgap wavelength of its core region and all the waveguides being arranged vertically in order of ascending bandgap wavelength; with the common waveguide placed at the bottom of the structure and the wavelength-designated waveguide having the longest bandgap wavelength placed at the top of the structure. In use, the bandgap wavelength of the common waveguide being well below any operating wavelength, therefore providing conditions for low-loss propagation of each operating wavelength to its designated waveguide through the common waveguide. The invention discloses a method of wavelength demultiplexing (multiplexing) for optical signals in a plurality of wavelengths, which are co- or bi-directionally propagating within the integrated-photonics arrangement, by vertical splitting them from (combining them into) the common waveguide into (from) wavelength designated waveguides.

Integrated vertical wavelength (de)multiplexer

An optical triplexer design is described in which external optical signals at a first wavelength range propagate through a laser source. The laser source provides optical signals having a second wavelength range. The triplexer features a photodetector for providing intensity feedback signals to the lasers source and a dense wavelength division multiplexer for demultiplexing the external optical.

Optical duplexer and optical triplexer

Integration of laser sources into optoelectronic integrated circuits requires that the laser do not operate using two cleaved end facets. Unfortunately, replacing of one of the end facets results by either a dry etched mirror or by a corner reflectors results in undesirable performance of the laser source since a gain coefficient for the laser source is lower than that for a dual cleaved end facet laser source. A modified waveguide is thus proposed which serves to reduce the undesirable effects found when a corner reflector is used by providing an improved waveguide region between the cleaved end facet and the corner reflector that facilitates excitation of a single optical mode within a laser cavity formed between the corner reflector and the cleaved end facet.

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Ottawa, Canada

Fang Wu