Ciena Corporation

Marie-Josee Picard

Christine Latrasse

Claude Gamache

Antoine Bois

Yves Painchaud

Michel Poulin

Alexandre Delisle-Simard

Raphael Beaupré-Laflamme

Ian Betty

Jérôme Leclerc-Perron

Jean-Philippe Bérubé

An apparatus for coupling an external optical interface to a first optical interface of a photonic integrated circuit comprises: a substrate comprising an optically transmissive material; and a first optical waveguide core formed in proximity to a first surface of the substrate. The first optical waveguide core comprises: a first portion comprising the external optical interface, a second portion that is (1) adjacent to the first surface of the substrate, and (2) adjacent to a second surface of the substrate at an acute angle with the first surface of the substrate, and a third portion between the first and second portions that is separated from the first surface of the substrate by a thickness of the optically transmissive material.

Managing photonic integrated circuit optical coupling

An integrated circuit can include one or more photonic layers that include a plurality of photonic integrated circuit portions. A first optical coupler is configured to couple an optical mode of an optical wave to a first photonic integrated circuit portion in the one or more photonic layers. A second optical coupler is configured to couple an optical mode of an optical wave to a second photonic integrated circuit portion that is optically uncoupled to the first photonic integrated circuit portion. The second photonic integrated circuit portion comprises a polarization-sensitive photonic component, and an optical splitter comprising at least one input port optically coupled to the polarization-sensitive photonic component and at least two output ports including a first output port and a second output port.

Managing characterization of optical couplers in an integrated circuit

An apparatus for testing a wafer or chip comprising a photonic integrated circuit comprises: an electrical signal interface module comprising an array of movable conducting structures; a photonic signal interface module attached to the electrical signal interface module, the photonic signal interface module comprising one or more optical fiber interfaces, and a first set of grating couplers arranged over at least a first plane of the photonic signal interface module; and one or more electrical signal connections between the electrical signal interface module and the photonic signal interface module.

A gain medium is pumped by a source. An optical wave passes through a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that comprises: a substrate comprising silicon, multiple photonic structures, an input port coupling an optical wave into a waveguide formed in the PIC, and an output port coupling an optical wave out of a waveguide formed in the PIC. Propagation of an optical wave circulating around a closed path of a laser ring cavity is limited using an optical isolator such that, when the pump source exceeds a lasing threshold, the optical wave propagates in a single direction through the gain medium and PIC. From an output coupler, an output is provided that comprises a fraction (e.g., &#x3e;0.5) of the power of an optical wave that is incident upon the output coupler, and remaining power of the optical wave is redirected around the closed path of the laser ring cavity.

Managing optical power in a laser

A gain medium is pumped by a source. An optical wave passes through a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) that comprises: a substrate comprising Silicon, a plurality of photonic structures, an input port coupling an optical wave into a waveguide formed in the PIC, and an output port coupling an optical wave out of a waveguide formed in the PIC. Propagation of an optical wave circulating around a closed path of a laser ring cavity is limited using an optical isolator such that, when the pump source exceeds a lasing threshold, the optical wave propagates in a single direction through the gain medium and the PIC. From output coupler, an output that is provided that comprises a fraction of the power of an optical wave that is incident upon the output coupler, and remaining power of the optical wave is redirected around the closed path of the laser ring cavity. The fraction can be greater than 0.5.

A waveguide coupling structure includes: a first section that supports a mode that has an associated first intensity profile that substantially overlaps with an intensity profile associated with a mode supported by a first waveguide portion at a first end of the waveguide coupling structure; a second section that supports a mode that has an associated second intensity profile that substantially overlaps with an intensity profile associated with a mode supported by a second waveguide portion at a second end of the waveguide coupling structure; and a third section, between the first section and the second section, comprising a core structure on a bottom cladding and a supporting structure on the bottom cladding. The supporting structure: (1) overlaps with at least a portion of an intensity profile associated with a guided mode of the third section, and (2) has a shape that is asymmetric with respect to a propagation axis of the guided mode in a plane parallel to a surface of the bottom cladding.

Managing mode transfer in asymmetric waveguide coupling structures

A spot-size converter includes a first part of a waveguiding structure to couple to a first waveguide to receive light from or transmit light to the first waveguide in a first propagation mode, wherein the first part of the waveguiding structure has a lower waveguiding structure with a varying effective refractive index that decreases away from the first waveguide; and a second part of the waveguiding structure to couple to a second waveguide to transmit light to or receive light from the second waveguide in a second propagation mode, the second part of the waveguiding structure includes an upper waveguiding structure with a plurality of high-index elements arranged therein, an overlap region is between the first part and the second part, the first propagation mode progressively transforms into the second propagation mode in the overlap region.

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L'Ancienne-Lorette, Canada

Marie-Josee Picard