An optical coupler includes a substrate, a mirror layer, a plurality of coupling gratings, a plurality of waveguides, and an oxide layer. The substrate includes a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a concave portion exposed from the first surface. The mirror layer is disposed in the concave portion. The coupling gratings are disposed above the mirror layer. The waveguides are laterally aligned with the coupling gratings. The concave portion faces both the coupling gratings and the waveguides. The oxide layer is bonded on the first surface. The coupling gratings and the waveguides are disposed on the oxide layer.

A device includes a first package connected to an interconnect substrate, wherein the interconnect substrate includes conductive routing; and a second package connected to the interconnect substrate, wherein the second package includes a photonic layer on a substrate, the photonic layer including a silicon waveguide coupled to a grating coupler and to a photodetector; a via extending through the substrate; an interconnect structure over the photonic layer, wherein the interconnect structure is connected to the photodetector and to the via; and an electronic die bonded to the interconnect structure, wherein the electronic die is connected to the interconnect structure.

Disclosed are embodiments of a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) structure with a waveguide core having tapered sidewall liner(s) (e.g., symmetric tapered sidewall liners on opposing sides of a waveguide core, asymmetric tapered sidewall liners on opposing sides of a waveguide core, or a tapered sidewall liner on one side of a waveguide core). In some embodiments, the tapered sidewall liner(s) and waveguide core have different refractive indices. In an exemplary embodiment, the waveguide core is a first material (e.g., silicon) and the tapered sidewall liner(s) is/are a second material (e.g., silicon nitride) with a smaller refractive index than the first material. In another exemplary embodiment, the waveguide core is a first compound and the tapered sidewall liner(s) is/are a second compound with the same elements (e.g., silicon and nitrogen) as the first compound but with a smaller refractive index. Also disclosed are method embodiments for forming such a PIC structure.

Systems, devices, and techniques for performing wavelength division multiplexing or demultiplexing using one or more metamaterials in an optical communications systems are described. An optical device may be configured to shift one or more phase profiles of an optical signal using one or more stages of metamaterials to multiplex or demultiplex wavelengths of optical signals. The optical device may be an example of a stacked design with two or more stages of metamaterials stacked on top of one another. The optical device may be an example of a folded design that reflects optical signals between different stages of metamaterials.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to an integrated chip that includes an insulator layer arranged over a substrate. Further, an upper routing structure is arranged over the insulator layer and is made of a semiconductor material. A lower optical routing structure is arranged below the substrate and is embedded in a lower dielectric structure. The integrated chip further includes an anti-reflective layer that is arranged below the substrate and directly contacts the substrate.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to forming multi-depth films for the fabrication of optical devices. One embodiment includes disposing a base layer of a device material on a surface of a substrate. One or more mandrels of the device material are disposed on the base layer. The disposing the one or more mandrels includes positioning a mask over of the base layer. The device material is deposited with the mask positioned over the base layer to form an optical device having the base layer with a base layer depth and the one or more mandrels having a first mandrel depth and a second mandrel depth.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) system, preferably including a substrate, one or more photonic connections, and a plurality of circuit blocks. The circuit blocks preferably include one or more waveguides that are optically coupled to the photonic connections, such as by transition features. A method of PIC fabrication, preferably including defining a PIC structure and defining circuit blocks. The circuit blocks are preferably defined onto one or more template regions defined by the PIC structure. Photonic connections are preferably defined as part of the PIC structure. Transition features, such as transitions between the photonic connections and the circuit blocks, are preferably defined concurrently with defining the circuit blocks.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) system, preferably including a substrate, one or more photonic connections, and a plurality of circuit blocks. The circuit blocks preferably include one or more waveguides that are optically coupled to the photonic connections, such as by transition features. A method of PIC fabrication, preferably including defining a PIC structure and defining circuit blocks. The circuit blocks are preferably defined onto one or more template regions defined by the PIC structure. Photonic connections are preferably defined as part of the PIC structure. Transition features, such as transitions between the photonic connections and the circuit blocks, are preferably defined concurrently with defining the circuit blocks.

A method of making an article comprising one or more layers of plasmonic nanoparticles located between opposing layers of dielectric materials and an article comprising one or more layers of plasmonic nanoparticles located between opposing layers of dielectric materials.

A method of making an article comprising one or more layers of plasmonic nanoparticles located between opposing layers of dielectric materials and an article comprising one or more layers of plasmonic nanoparticles located between opposing layers of dielectric materials.