One illustrative device disclosed herein includes a layer of semiconductor material and a first Bragg reflector structure positioned in the layer of semiconductor material, wherein the first Bragg reflector structure comprises a plurality of dielectric elements and a first internal area defined by an innermost of the first plurality of dielectric elements. In this example, the device also includes an optical component positioned above the layer of semiconductor material, wherein at least a portion of the optical component is positioned within a vertical projection of the first internal area.

An optical circuit substrate according to the present disclosure includes a wiring board and an optical waveguide. The optical waveguide includes a core layer, cladding layers formed on both main surfaces of the core layer, and a reflective mirror portion that passes through the cladding layers and the core layer, and is provided on the wiring board via a conductor layer located on a surface of the wiring board. When the optical waveguide is viewed in a cross section in a thickness direction, the reflective mirror portion has a recessed portion in at least a part of the cladding layer on the conductor layer side.

A semiconductor optical device includes a first facet bounding a first end of the semiconductor optical device. The semiconductor optical device further includes a waveguide having a first end proximate the first facet, the first end of the waveguide being tapered towards the first facet. The first facet has a curvature to increase modal reflectivity at a first interface at which the first end of the waveguide meets the first facet.

Integrated-optics systems are presented in which an active-material stack is disposed on a coupling layer in a first region to collectively define an OA waveguide that supports an optical mode of a light signal. The coupling layer is patterned to define a coupling waveguide and a passive waveguide, which are formed as two abutting, optically coupled segments of the coupling layer. The lateral dimensions of the active-material stack are configured to control the shape and vertical position of the optical mode at any location along the length of the OA waveguide. The active-material stack includes a taper that narrows along its length such that the optical mode is located completely in the coupling waveguide where the coupling waveguide abuts the passive waveguide. In some embodiments, the passive layer is optically coupled with the OA waveguide and a silicon waveguide, thereby enabling light to propagate between them.

An optical scanning device includes: a first waveguide that propagates light by total reflection; and a second waveguide. The second waveguide includes: a first multilayer reflective film; a second multilayer reflective film that faces the first multilayer reflective film; and a first optical waveguide layer directly connected to the first waveguide and located between the first and second multilayer reflective films. The first optical waveguide layer has a variable thickness and/or a variable refractive index and propagates the light transmitted through the first waveguide. The first multilayer reflective film has a higher light transmittance than the second multilayer reflective film and allows part of the light propagating through the first optical waveguide layer to be emitted to the outside. By changing the thickness of the first optical waveguide layer and/or its refractive index, the direction of the part of the light emitted from the second waveguide is changed.

An integrated photonics device that emits light out towards a measured sample value is disclosed. The device can include a discrete optical unit that attaches to a supporting layer. The discrete optical unit can include mirror(s), optics, detector array(s), and traces. The supporting layer can include one or more cavities having facet walls. Light emitter(s) can emit light that propagate through waveguide(s). The emitted light can exit the waveguide(s) (via termination point(s)), enter the one or more cavities at the facet walls, and be received by receiving facets of the discrete optical unit. The mirror(s) of the discrete optical unit can redirect the received light towards collimating optics, which can direct the light out of the device through the system interface. The discrete optical unit can be formed separately from the supporting layer or bonded to the supporting layer after the mirror, optics, detector arrays, and traces are formed.

A Super System on Chip (SSoC) coupled with a photonic neural learning processor (PNLP), one or more quantum bits (qubits) and a machine learning algorithm for ultrafast data processing, image processing/recognition, deep learning/meta-learning and self-learning is disclosed. The Super System on Chip (SSoC) is interconnected/coupled electrically and/or optically in two-dimension (2-D) or in three-dimension (3-D).

An optical antenna, an optical phased array transmitter, and a lidar system using the same are provided. The optical antenna includes a substrate that forms at least a portion of a reflector layer having a first material, a waveguide layer disposed above the reflector layer and having a second material, a separation layer disposed between the waveguide layer and the reflector layer and having a third material. The waveguide layer further has a first grating array. The reflector layer reflects the light emitted downwards from the waveguide layer. The refractive index of the third material is smaller than that of either the first material or the second material.

Periscope assemblies are provided which have a light path that travels in a first plane along the first waveguide, a second plane along the second waveguide that is parallel to the first plane, and along a third plane along the third waveguide that intersects the first plane and the second plane. In some examples the periscope assembly includes first and second carriers comprising respective first and second waveguides and defining respective first and second cavities in which a third carrier comprising a third waveguide is disposed and optionally includes an optical component. In some examples, the cavities are defined in one or more carriers on a mating surface, on a side opposite to the mating surface, or on a side perpendicular to a mating surface.

An optical interconnect structure including a base substrate, an optical waveguide, a first reflector, a second reflector, a dielectric layer, a first lens, and a second lens is provided. The optical waveguide is embedded in the base substrate. The optical waveguide includes a first end portion and a second end portion opposite to the first end portion. The first reflector is disposed between the base substrate and the first end portion of the optical waveguide. The second reflector is disposed between the base substrate and the second end portion of the optical waveguide. The dielectric layer covers the base substrate and the optical waveguide. The first lens is disposed on the dielectric layer and located above the first end portion of the optical waveguide. The second lens is disposed on the dielectric layer and located above the second end portion of the optical waveguide.