University of Central Florida Research Foundation Inc

University of Colorado

Government of the United States of America, As Represented by the Secretary of Commerce

Jeffrey Taylor Chiles

Sasan Fathpour

Eric John Stanton

Ian Robert Coddington

Nima Nader

The present invention provides an optical coupler comprising: a first optical prong; a second optical prong; an optical waveguide with which the first optical prong and the second optical prong merge; wherein: a distance from an axially outer tip edge of the first optical prong to an axially outer tip edge of the first optical prong is greater than a planar width of the optical waveguide; and the first optical prong and the second optical prong are each tapered from the optical waveguide.

Compact and efficient integrated photonic device for coupling light on- and off-chip

A self-referencing nonlinear frequency converting photonic waveguide includes: a supercontinuum input optical taper; a supercontinuum nonlinear optical member that produces supercontinuum light spanning an optical octave with respect to input light; and a supercontinuum output optical taper; a second harmonic input optical taper; a second harmonic nonlinear optical member that receives the supercontinuum light and produces second harmonic light from the supercontinuum light, the second harmonic light including a second harmonic of the supercontinuum light; and a second harmonic output optical taper that receives the second harmonic light, the supercontinuum light, and the input light and co-propagates the second harmonic light, the supercontinuum light, and the input light from the second harmonic generator section as output light.

Self-referencing nonlinear frequency converting photonic waveguide and self-referencing nonlinear frequency conversion

An integrated photonic structure and a method of fabrication includes a substrate having at least one opening disposed therein; a semiconductor stack disposed above the substrate, the semiconductor stack being, at least in part, isolated from the substrate by an opening to define a suspended semiconductor membrane; and a first doped region and a second doped region located within the suspended semiconductor membrane. The first doped region is laterally separated from the second doped region by an optically active region disposed therein that defines a waveguiding region of the integrated photonic structure.

Hetero-structure-based integrated photonic devices, methods and applications

A polarization-sensitive photonic splitter may include a lower cladding layer and a device layer formed from a first waveguide supporting TE and TM light, a second waveguide, a third waveguide, and a transition core. The first waveguide core and the second waveguide core are formed from one of a first core structure or a second core structure, and the third waveguide is formed from the other structure. The first core structure has an index of refraction n. The second core structure is formed as alternating layers providing an effective index of refraction for TE light nand an effective index of refraction for TM light n, where n&#x3c;n&#x3c;n. The transition core is formed from the first core structure adjacent to the second core structure and is coupled to the first transition core at one and the second and third transition cores at the other end.

Photonic apparatus for controlling polarization

A photonic device may include a lower cladding layer and a device layer. The device layer may include a first waveguide supporting TE and TM light, and a second waveguide, where a portion of a second waveguide core is proximate to a first waveguide core to provide evanescent coupling. The first waveguide core is formed from one of a first core structure or a second core structure, and the second waveguide core is formed from the other structure. The first core structure has an index of refraction n. The second core structure is formed as alternating layers providing an effective index of refraction for TE polarized light nand an effective index of refraction for TM polarized light n, where n&#x3c;n&#x3c;nsuch that one of TM or TE light is preferentially evanescently coupled between the first waveguide and the second waveguide.

A photonic device has a polarization-dependent region and a device layer including a first cladding film, a second cladding film, and a core film. The core film includes one of (1) a material having an index nand (2) alternating layers of a first material having a first index and second material having a second index. The alternating layers have an effective index for TE polarized light nand an effective index for TM polarized light n. Each of the first cladding film and the second cladding film include the other of (1) the material having the index of refraction nand (2) the alternating layers n&#x3c;n&#x3c;n, and the indices of the upper cladding and the lower cladding are less than n, nand n. A polarizer, polarizing beam splitter and coupler using clipped coupling can employ the material having an index nand the alternating layers.

Various embodiments of the present technology provide a novel architecture for optical frequency conversion in a waveguide which can be applied to any suitable nonlinear waveguide material and any wavelength. In accordance with some embodiments, phase-matched bends can be used to increase the nonlinear interaction length. For example, the device can begin with a straight waveguide section with a width designed for phase-matching. When the straight waveguide section approaches the end of the chip, a bending waveguide section allows the waveguide to meander back in the opposite direction. Various embodiments of the bend can have a wider or narrower width to eliminate phase-matching for second harmonic generation (SHG) and instead provide a 2&#x3c0; phase-shift between the pump and signal light. Therefore, at the end of the bend, the pump and signal light are in-phase and a phase-matched width will continue the SHG process.

Systems and methods for efficient optical frequency conversion with integrated optical systems

The present invention is an integrated photonics platform is created through the application of a polymer and silicon dioxide mask, multiple anisotropic etchings with inductively-coupled plasma reactive-ion-etching and a brief isotropic silicon etching to produce a a T-shaped silicon base wafer. A silicon-on-insulator donor wafer is bonded to the silicon base wafer a silicon dioxide layer between the two wafers is removed, producing a finalized T-shaped optical waveguide. The T-shaped optical waveguide causes confinement of the optical mode in the upper region of the 'T,' above the connection to the post. This shape prevents leakage of light into the silicon wafer.

Growing community of inventors

Boulder, CO, United States of America

Jeffrey Taylor Chiles