Systems and methods for recording holographic gratings in accordance with various embodiments of the invention are illustrated. One embodiment includes a holographic recording system including a first movable platform configured to support a first plurality of waveguide cells for exposure, at least one master grating, and at least one laser source configured to provide a set of recording beams by directing light towards the at least one master grating, wherein the first movable platform is translatable in predefined steps along at least one of two orthogonal directions, and wherein at each the predefined step at least one waveguide cell is positioned to be illuminated by at least one recording beam within the set of recording beams.

An optical waveguide device that enables a location in which an optical loss such as a propagation loss or a coupling loss occurs to be easily specified is provided. An optical waveguide device includes a substrate 1 on which an optical waveguide 2 is formed, and a grating 6 formed in a part of the optical waveguide 2 or a grating 6 connected to a monitoring optical waveguide 5 that merges with or branches from a part of the optical waveguide 2, in which inputting a light wave into the optical waveguide or outputting at least a part of the light wave propagating through the optical waveguide is performed through the grating 6.

A display structure (1000), comprising a waveguide (1100) comprising a first face (1110), a second face (1120) opposite the first face (1110), and an in-coupling region (1112) on the first face (1110); an in-coupling structure (1200) for coupling an optical beam (1201) into the waveguide (1100) via the in-coupling region (1112); and an out-coupling structure (1300) configured to perform exit pupil expansion by pupil replication and to couple light from the optical beam (1201) out of the waveguide (1100). The in-coupling region (1112) has a maximum width, Wmax; the waveguide (1100) has a thickness, T, greater than 0.25?Wmax; and the out-coupling structure (1300) comprises a diffractive first out-coupling element (1310) and a diffractive second outcoupling element (1320) at least partly laterally overlapping the first out-coupling element (1310).

A display structure (1000), comprising a waveguide (1100) comprising a first face (1110), a second face (1120) opposite the first face (1110), and an in-coupling region (1112) on the first face (1110); an in-coupling structure (1200) for coupling an optical beam (1201) into the waveguide (1100) via the in-coupling region (1112); and an out-coupling structure (1300) configured to perform exit pupil expansion by pupil replication and to couple light from the optical beam (1201) out of the waveguide (1100). The in-coupling region (1112) has a maximum width, Wmax; the waveguide (1100) has a thickness, T, greater than 0.25?Wmax; and the out-coupling structure (1300) comprises a diffractive first out-coupling element (1310) and a diffractive second outcoupling element (1320) at least partly laterally overlapping the first out-coupling element (1310).

An apparatus includes a fiber-optic connector configured to be connected between one or more optical fibers having fiber cores and a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) including vertical-coupling elements. The fiber-optic connector includes a polarization beam splitter and a patterned birefringent plate. The polarization beam splitter splits an incident light beam from a fiber core into first and second beams having first and second polarizations, respectively. The patterned birefringent plate includes a first region (having a first optical birefringence) and a second region (having a second optical birefringence). The difference in the first and second optical birefringence is caused by (i) applying localized heating to the first region without applying localized heating to the second region to cause the first region to have a lower birefringence as compared to the second region, or (ii) applying different amounts of localized heating to the first and second regions to produce different birefringence.

An optical apparatus comprising an optical switch array comprising a plurality of optical switches configured to selectively route light through one or more of a plurality of waveguides, a plurality of emitters, wherein at least one emitter of the plurality of emitters is disposed in communication with the one or more of the plurality of waveguides and configured to receive light and cause at least a portion of the light to exit the waveguide, and a lens disposed to receive light exiting the one or more of a plurality of waveguides via the at least one emitter, wherein the lens is configured to direct the received light as an optical output, and wherein the position of the at least one emitter relative to the lens facilitates beam steering of the optical output.

Disclosed is a system and method for communication using an efficient fiber-to-chip grating coupler with a high coupling efficiency. In one embodiment, a method for communication, includes: transmitting optical signals between a semiconductor photonic die on a substrate and an optical fiber array attached to the substrate using at least one corresponding grating coupler on the semiconductor photonic die, wherein the at least one grating coupler each comprises a plurality of coupling gratings, a waveguide, a cladding layer, a first reflection layer and a second reflection layer, wherein the plurality of coupling gratings each comprises at least one step in a first lateral direction and extends in a second lateral direction, wherein the first and second lateral directions are parallel to a surface of the substrate and perpendicular to each other in a grating plane, wherein the first reflection layers are configured such that the plurality of coupling gratings is disposed between the first reflection layer and the cladding layer, wherein the second reflection layer are configured such that the cladding layer is disposed between the second reflection layer and the waveguide.

An optical device includes a first substrate having a first surface, a second substrate having a second surface, at least one optical waveguide, and a plurality of spacers, disposed on at least either the first surface or the second surface, that include a first portion and a second portion. The first portion of the plurality of elastic spacers is at least one elastic spacer located in a region between the first substrate and the second substrate in which the first substrate and the second substrate overlap each other as seen from an angle parallel with a direction perpendicular to the first surface. The second portion of the plurality of elastic spacers is at least one elastic spacer located in a region in which the first substrate and the second substrate do not overlap each other as seen from an angle parallel with the direction perpendicular to the first surface.

A composite coating having a high refractive index, high Abbe number, low haze and high transmittance, suitable for fabricating nanoscale optical surface features includes a resin with a crosslinked polymer matrix having polymers with repeat units derived from acrylic or methacrylic monomers or oligomers and inorganic nanoparticles disposed within the resin, wherein the composite coating has a refractive index equal to or greater than 1.7 and a glass transition temperature equal to or greater than 60 C.

In an example, a photonic system includes a Si PIC with a Si substrate, a SiO.sub.2 box formed on the Si substrate, a first layer, and a second layer. The first layer is formed above the SiO.sub.2 box and includes a SiN waveguide with a coupler portion at a first end and a tapered end opposite the first end. The second layer is formed above the SiO.sub.2 box and vertically displaced above or below the first layer. The second layer includes a Si waveguide with a tapered end aligned in two orthogonal directions with the coupler portion of the SiN waveguide such that the tapered end of the Si waveguide overlaps in the two orthogonal directions and is parallel to the coupler portion of the SiN waveguide. The tapered end of the SiN waveguide is configured to be adiabatically coupled to a coupler portion of an interposer waveguide.