Infinera Corporation

Little Optics Inc

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sai T Chu

Brent Everett Little

Oliver S King

Frederick Gorr Johnson

Marcus Schuetz

John V Hryniewicz

Wei Chen

Mehrdad Ziari

Kurt R Francis

David M Gill

Lance G Joneckis

Jeff Rahn

Fred A Kish, Jr

Charles H Joyner

Timothy Butrie

Yasuo Kokubun

Michael Reffle

Wugen Pan

The present invention, in one embodiment contemplates a polarization insensitive optical circuit constructed of an input/output signal separator, such as an optical circulator or a 1&#xd7;2 or 2&#xd7;2 coupler or N&#xd7;M coupler, a polarization sensitive operator, and a polarization rotator reflector. In an alternate embodiment, the invention contemplates a polarization insensitive optical circuit comprising a polarization rotator reflector, and a polarization sensitive operator which may comprise for example a first polarization rotator, an operator/coupler, and a polarization beam combiner. Preferably at least one of the components in the optical circuit is constructed integrally from the substrate upon which the optical circuit is based. For example the polarization rotator and/or polarization sensitive operator of the present invention may be monolithic.

Polarization insensitive optical circuit

One embodiment contemplates a polarization insensitive optical circuit constructed of an input/output signal separator, such as an optical circulator or a 1&#xd7;2 or 2&#xd7;2 coupler or N&#xd7;M coupler, a polarization sensitive operator, and a polarization rotator reflector. In an alternate embodiment, the invention contemplates a polarization insensitive optical circuit including a polarization rotator reflector, and a polarization sensitive operator which may include, for example, a first polarization rotator, an operator/coupler, and a polarization beam combiner. Preferably, at least one of the components in the optical circuit is constructed integrally from the substrate upon which the optical circuit is based. For examples the polarization rotator and/or polarization sensitive operator may be monolithic.

A planar lightwave circuit (PLC) includes a substrate, a tunable filter, a demultiplexer (DEMUX), and an optical processor each disposed on the substrate. The tunable filter is configured to filter at least one of a bandwidth or a wavelength of a Wavelength Division Multiplexed (WDM) optical input signal. The DEMUX is connected to the tunable filter and configured to receive a filtered WDM optical input signal at an input and to supply one of a plurality of channels of the filtered WDM input signal at a respective one of a plurality of outputs. Each of the plurality of channels corresponds to one of a plurality of wavelengths of the filtered WDM input signal. The optical processor includes a bit-delay interferometer communicating with a respective one of the plurality of outputs of the DEMUX. The optical processor is configured to receive one of the plurality of channels from the DEMUX and output a plurality of demodulated optical signal components.

Optical receiver including a filter on a planar lightwave circuit

An optical receiver includes a first substrate including a demultiplexer and a first optical waveguide array. An input of the demultiplexer is configured to receive a wavelength division multiplexed optical input signal having a plurality of channels. Each of the plurality of channels corresponds to one of a plurality of wavelengths. Each of the plurality of outputs is configured to supply a corresponding one of the plurality of channels. The first optical waveguide array has a plurality of inputs. Each of the inputs of the first optical waveguide array is configured to receive a corresponding one of the plurality of channels. A second substrate is in signal communication with the first substrate and includes an optical detector array. The optical detector array has a plurality of inputs, each of which is configured to receive a corresponding one of the plurality of channels and generate an electrical signal in response thereto.

Receiver on a photonic IC

An integrated optical device is disclosed comprising a substrate, optical waveguide, and compound optical resonator having a temperature sensor, at least two coupled optical resonators, and a heater localized to each optical resonator. An optical input signal is coupled to one of the resonators making up the compound resonator to form an optical output signal. The center wavelength and shape of the output signal is optimized with a feedback loop using the temperature sensor to control the power dissipated in at least one of the localized heaters. The power dissipated in the remaining resonator heaters is set according to a predetermined function having as an input variable the power dissipated in the resonant heater under control of the said feedback loop.

Coupled optical waveguide resonators with heaters for thermo-optic control of wavelength and compound filter shape

An integrated optical waveguide circuit apparatus having an optical processing area, waveguide ports for optical processing, and at least one waveguide structure, the at least one waveguide structure going around the optical processing area. Methods for making the integrated optical waveguide circuit apparatus are also disclosed.

Hermaphroditic u-guide alignment structures and method thereof

The invention comprises a method of connecting an integrated optical waveguide circuit component to an optical fiber array. The invention includes the steps of: providing an integrated optical waveguide circuit component having an array of N wave guide ports for optical processing that contain a subset of u-waveguides (one or more) structures for optimizing optical alignment; providing an optical fiber array having an array of at least N optical fibers, and positioning the optical fiber array adjacent to the circuit component so that photons emitted from the optical fiber array ports are coupled into the respective individual corresponding u-waveguide port(s) and then back into the corresponding optical fiber coupling ends of the optical fiber array.

Devices and methods for the vapor deposition of amorphous, silicon-containing thin films using vapors comprised of deuterated species. Thin films grown on a substrate wafer by this method contain deuterium but little to no hydrogen. Optical devices comprised of optical waveguides formed using this method have significantly reduced optical absorption or loss in the near-infrared optical spectrum commonly used for optical communications, compared to the loss in waveguides formed in thin films grown using conventional vapor deposition techniques with hydrogen containing precursors. In one variation, the optical devices are formed on a silicon-oxide layer that is formed on a substrate, such as a silicon substrate. The optical devices of some variations are of the chemical species SiO N :D. Since the method of formation requires no annealing, the thin films can be grown on electronic and optical devices or portions thereof without damaging those devices.

Use of deuterated gases for the vapor deposition of thin films for low-loss optical devices and waveguides

Optical resonators are vertically coupled on top of bus waveguides, and are separated from the waveguides by a buffer layer of arbitrary thickness. The vertical arrangement eliminates the need for etching fine gaps to separate the rings and guides, and reduces the alignment sensitivity between the desired position of the resonator and bus waveguides by a significant degree. The resonator and bus waveguides lie in different vertical layers, and each can therefore be optimized independently. A ring resonator can be optimized for higher index contrast in the plane, small size, and low bending loss, while the bus waveguides can be designed to have lower index contrast in the plane, low propagation losses, and dimensions that make them suitable for matching to optical fibers. The waveguides can also have any lateral placement underneath the ring resonators and are not restricted by the placement of the rings. Furthermore, with the resonators lying on the top layer of the structure, they are easily accessed for tuning and trimming.

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Columbia, MD, United States of America

Sai T Chu