Embodiments of the present invention provide a liquid crystal grating-based optical switching apparatus, including an input collimator, an input polarization beam splitter, an input quarter-wave plate, a liquid crystal grating, an output quarter-wave plate, an output polarization beam splitter, and an output collimator. A transmission path is selected for an optical signal by changing a voltage of a liquid crystal grating so that the optical signal is output to a selected output.

The number of wavelength selective switch (WSS) units in a WSS device can be doubled by using polarization properties of optical beams propagating through the WSS device. Beams from different WSS units are orthogonally polarized at the front end, propagated through collimator, wavelength dispersing element, and a focusing element, and impinge on a polarizing beamsplitter, which directs sub-beams at different polarizations to different directing elements of a director array. A polarization diversity configuration at the back end can be used to reduce polarization dependent loss.

Structures for an optical switch and methods of forming such structures. The structure comprises a first waveguide core including a first portion and a second portion, a second waveguide core including a first portion and a second portion, a ring resonator having a first portion adjacent to the first portion of the first waveguide core and a second portion adjacent to the first portion of the second waveguide core, and an optical coupler coupled to the second portion of first waveguide core and the second portion of the second waveguide core. The first portion of the ring resonator is spaced from the first portion of the first waveguide core by a first gap over a first light coupling region, and the second portion of the ring resonator is spaced from the first portion of the second waveguide core by a second gap over a second light coupling region.

An integrated MEMS waveguide modulator, including: a static, non-suspended waveguide to guide light traveling through the waveguide; and a dielectric slab movable into and out of an evanescent field surrounding the waveguide using an actuation mechanism, wherein the dielectric slab is movable between a first position that is farthest away possible for the slab from the waveguide and a second position that is closest possible for the slab from the waveguide, wherein dispersion characteristic of the light is controlled by moving the dielectric slab from an unactuated mode that is at the first position to an actuated mode that is at the second position, and wherein the dielectric slab is layered to include non-uniform refractive index profile.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprises an optical switch, a plurality of input edge couplers comprising a first input edge coupler and coupled to the optical switch, a plurality of input surface grating couplers (SGCs) comprising a first input SGC and coupled to the optical switch, a plurality of output edge couplers comprising a first output edge coupler and coupled to the optical switch, and a plurality of output SGCs comprising a first output SGC and coupled to the optical switch. A method of fabricating a PIC comprises patterning and etching a silicon substrate to produce a first optical switch, a first surface grating coupler (SGC) coupled to the first optical switch, and a first edge coupler coupled to the first optical switch.

Methods and systems include a method, comprising: providing, by an orchestrator of a network element, an optical service loading request identifying requested passbands to be loaded on a wavelength selective switch (WSS) for transmission of optical content; determining, by a loading manager of the network element, a subset of the requested passbands to be loaded on the WSS based on a downstream band signal status; and loading, by control blocks of the network element, the subset of the requested passbands on the WSS. The optical content includes client data and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise. The network element comprises an ASE source, a light source, a light sink, a line port coupled to an optical fiber link, tributary ports, and the WSS. At least one of the tributary ports is coupled to the ASE source. The light source and the light sink transmit and receive the client data, respectively.

The present disclosure is to provide a branch ratio measuring device, a branch ratio measuring method, and an optical multiplexer/demultiplexer circuit manufacturing method that do not require any optical sources for measurement. A branch ratio measuring device according to the present disclosure includes: an optical waveguide that has a cladding polished to the core or to the vicinity of the core; a first optical intensity measurement unit that is connected to one end of the core of the optical waveguide, and measures an optical intensity; and a second optical intensity measurement unit that is connected to the other end of the core of the optical waveguide, and measures an optical intensity.

Example embodiments relate to delay-line quantum memories. One example embodiment includes a device. The device includes a plurality of cascaded optical stages coupled with one another. Each optical stage includes an optical delay line. The optical delay line is configured to receive light at an input. The optical delay line is also configured to propagate light from the input to an output. Light propagates from the input to the output with an associated optical delay time. The optical delay times associated with different optical stages are different from one another. Each optical stage also includes a stage-level recirculation switch configured to receive light at the output of the optical delay line and selectively recirculate the light through the input of the optical delay line. The device also includes a device-level recirculation switch configured to receive light exiting the last optical stage and selectively recirculate the light through the first optical stage.

Embodiments herein describe spectroscopy systems that provide frequency, amplitude, and power-stabilized light to a vapor cell. An optical signal can be split into two optical paths where a first optical path includes an AOM to perform frequency and amplitude modulation to generate a pump optical signal and a second optical path that includes a variable optical attenuator (VOA) for generating a probe optical signal. These optical signals can then be provided into a vapor cell (also referred to as a gas cell) to perform spectroscopy.

An optical arrangement includes a first optical component configured to split an input beam into two orthogonally polarized beams including a first polarized beam and a second polarized beam directed along first and second optical paths, respectively; a second optical component configured to receive the second polarized beam, rotate a polarization of the second polarized beam to produce a third polarized beam, and direct the third polarized beam further along the second optical path; and a prism arrangement that includes a first prism section including a first pair of optically coupled interfaces configured to redirect the first polarized beam, at a first redirection angle, along a redirected path segment of the first optical path; and a second prism section including a second pair of optically coupled interfaces configured to redirect the third polarized beam, at a second redirection angle, along a redirected path segment of the second optical path.