The invention relates to a device for optical applications, which has an optical waveguide (10), to which a light source (11) can be connected. The optical waveguide (10) is designed in such a way that light emitted by the connectable light source (11) propagates along a light propagation axis (12). A wavelength-sensitive grating structure (13) in the optical waveguide (10) has detectors (20), which are arranged in such a way that the detectors absorb partial amounts of the light of the light source (11) that is scattered by the wavelength-sensitive grating structure (13). The grating structure (13) in the optical waveguide (10) is constructed of periodically arranged ellipsoid structural elements (14). The ellipsoid structural elements (14) have a different index of refraction than the material of the optical waveguide (10) surrounding the ellipsoid structural elements. The ellipsoid structural elements (14) have a longitudinal axis and a short axis, which are substantially perpendicular to the light propagation axis (12). Depending on the wavelength, partial amounts of the light scattered by the grating structure (13) are coupled out of the optical waveguide (10). The light hits the detectors (20). An absorbing or partially reflecting filter (30) is arranged between at least one of the detectors (20) and the optical waveguide (10). The detectors (20) have measuring elements for the intensity of the partial amount of the light that hits the detector (20) in question. An evaluation element is provided, which determines a wavelength from the intensity ratio of the plurality of detectors (20). The detectors (20) are arranged in such a way that the detectors either are arranged opposite each other on different sides of the long axes of the

An occupancy sensor covering a wide field in an integrated chip is disclosed. The occupancy sensor includes an array of grating coupled waveguide sensors wherein continuous wave (cw) signals monitor an ambient light field for dynamic changes on times scales of seconds, and high frequency signals map in three-dimensions of the space using time-of-flight (TOF) measurements, pixel level electronics that perform signal processing; array level electronics that perform additional signal processing; and communications and site level electronics that interface with actuators to respond to occupancy sensing.

A measurement system is provided with an array of laser diodes with one or more Bragg reflectors. At least a portion of the light generated by the array is configured to penetrate tissue comprising skin. A detection system configured to: measure a phase shift, and a time-of-flight, of at least a portion of the light from the array of laser diodes reflected from the tissue relative to the portion of the light generated by the array; generate one or more images of the tissue; detect oxy- or deoxy-hemoglobin in the tissue; non-invasively measure blood in blood vessels within or below a dermis layer within the skin; measure one or more physiological parameters based at least in part on the non-invasively measured blood; and measure a variation in the blood or physiological parameter over a period of time.

Building blocks are provided for on-chip chemical sensors and other highly-compact photonic integrated circuits combining interband or quantum cascade lasers and detectors with passive waveguides and other components integrated on a III-V or silicon. A MWIR or LWIR laser source is evanescently coupled into a passive extended or resonant-cavity waveguide that provides evanescent coupling to a sample gas (or liquid) for spectroscopic chemical sensing. In the case of an ICL, the uppermost layer of this passive waveguide has a relatively high index of refraction that enables it to form the core of the waveguide, while the ambient air, consisting of the sample gas, functions as the top cladding layer. A fraction of the propagating light beam is absorbed by the sample gas if it contains a chemical species having a fingerprint absorption feature within the spectral linewidth of the laser emission.

Building blocks are provided for on-chip chemical sensors and other highly-compact photonic integrated circuits combining interband or quantum cascade lasers and detectors with passive waveguides and other components integrated on a III-V or silicon. A MWIR or LWIR laser source is evanescently coupled into a passive extended or resonant-cavity waveguide that provides evanescent coupling to a sample gas (or liquid) for spectroscopic chemical sensing. In the case of an ICL, the uppermost layer of this passive waveguide has a relatively high index of refraction that enables it to form the core of the waveguide, while the ambient air, consisting of the sample gas, functions as the top cladding layer. A fraction of the propagating light beam is absorbed by the sample gas if it contains a chemical species having a fingerprint absorption feature within the spectral linewidth of the laser emission.

Building blocks are provided for on-chip chemical sensors and other highly-compact photonic integrated circuits combining interband or quantum cascade lasers and detectors with passive waveguides and other components integrated on a III-V or silicon. A MWIR or LWIR laser source is evanescently coupled into a passive extended or resonant-cavity waveguide that provides evanescent coupling to a sample gas (or liquid) for spectroscopic chemical sensing. In the case of an ICL, the uppermost layer of this passive waveguide has a relatively high index of refraction that enables it to form the core of the waveguide, while the ambient air, consisting of the sample gas, functions as the top cladding layer. A fraction of the propagating light beam is absorbed by the sample gas if it contains a chemical species having a fingerprint absorption feature within the spectral linewidth of the laser emission.

An optical system operating in the near or short-wave infrared wavelength range identifies an object based on water absorption. The system comprises a light source with modulated light emitting diodes operating at wavelengths near 1090 and 1440 nanometers, corresponding to lower and higher water absorption. The system further comprises one or more wavelength selective filters and a housing that is further coupled to an electrical circuit and a processor. The detection system comprises photodetectors that are synchronized to the light source, and the detection system receives at least a portion of light reflected from the object. The system is configured to identify the object by comparing the reflected light at the first and second wavelength to generate an output value, and then comparing the output value to a threshold. The optical system may be further coupled to a wearable device or a remote sensing system with a time-of-flight sensor.

Described herein are optical sensing devices for photonic integrated circuits (PICs). A PIC may comprise a plurality of waveguides formed in a silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate, and a plurality of heterogeneous lasers, each laser formed from a silicon material of the SOI substrate and to emit an output wavelength comprising an infrared wavelength. Each of these lasers may comprise a resonant cavity included in one of the plurality of waveguides, and a gain material comprising a non-silicon material and adiabatically coupled to the respective waveguide. A light directing element may direct outputs of the plurality of heterogeneous lasers from the PIC towards an object, and one or more detectors may detect light from the plurality of heterogeneous lasers reflected from or transmitted through the object.

The invention provides a dynamically swept tunable laser system and method for measuring sensor characteristics obtained from an array of optical sensors comprising means for dividing the total wavelength sweep of the laser into different regions in any particular order where each region contains single or multiple contiguous sweep segments and where each sweep segment is referenced by a start and a stop reference and can have different lengths compared to the other sweep segments. The sensor characteristics are determined from each region swept by the tunable laser. The invention provides for the tunable laser to be adapted to operate in a quasi-continuous mode to select segments in any order. The relative sweep rates of regions can be changed such that some regions can be swept more times than other regions.

The present disclosure relates to a dispersion apparatus. The dispersion apparatus may include an optical substrate; a grating layer on a first side of the optical substrate; and a light outlet layer on a second side of the optical substrate, the second side opposite the first side of the optical substrate. The grating layer is configured to perform dispersion of incident light into first-order diffracted beams having target wavelengths and transmit the first-order diffracted beams into the optical substrate, and wherein a diffraction angle of each of the first-order diffracted beams having the target wavelengths is smaller than a total reflection angle between the optical substrate and air. The light outlet layer is configured to extract the first-order diffracted beams having the target wavelengths in the optical substrate.