An optical modulator includes a first mesa waveguide extending in a first direction, and a second mesa waveguide. The first mesa waveguide includes a p-type first semiconductor layer disposed over a substrate, a core layer disposed over the first semiconductor layer, a p-type second semiconductor layer disposed over the core layer, and an n-type third semiconductor layer disposed over the core layer. The second semiconductor layer and the third semiconductor layer are arranged adjacent to each other in the first direction. An electrode is disposed over the third semiconductor layer. A joining surface between the second semiconductor layer and the third semiconductor layer is inclined with respect to a surface orthogonal to the first direction.

Electro-optic (EO) modulators are disclosed. The EO modulators include a substrate and an EO material layer disposed over the substrate. The EO material layer and the substrate provide an optical waveguide having an optical group velocity (OGV). The EO modulators also include electrodes disposed over the EO material layer to provide a coplanar waveguide (CPW). The CPW has a radio-frequency (RF) phase velocity, and the electrodes have a gap therebetween. The EO modulators also include a superstrate disposed over the EO material layer and configured to be raised and lowered, or disposed and removed to tune the RF phase velocity to be substantially the same as the OGV, wherein a space exists between the superstrate and the EO material.

A thermo-optic phase shifter comprises an optical waveguide comprising a P-type region comprising a first contact, an N-type region comprising a second contact, and a waveguide region disposed between the P-type region and the N-type region and having a raised portion. The thermo-optic phase shifter further comprises one or more heating elements. The one or more heating elements include one or more discrete resistive heating elements or the P-type and N-type regions driven as resistive heating elements.

A photonic device that includes two electrodes and a two-dimensional (2D) material electrically connecting the two electrodes. The 2D material may be molybdenum ditelluride. Strain may be induced in the 2D material (e.g., by placing the 2D material on a waveguide) to reduce the band gap of the 2D material and increase the efficiency of the photodetector. The photonic device may be a photodetector with 2D material that absorbs light energy and converts it into a photocurrent in a circuit that includes the two electrodes. The photonic device may be an emitter with 2D material that emits light energy in response to an electric field across the two electrodes. The photonic device may be a modulator with 2D material that modulates a property of an optical signal (e.g., the amplitude or phase) by modulating the amount of strain induced in the 2D material.

An optical sensing module suitable for wearable devices, the optical sensing module comprising: a silicon or silicon nitride transmitter photonic integrated circuit (PIC), the transmitter PIC comprising: a plurality of lasers, each laser of the plurality of lasers operating at a wavelength that is different from the wavelength of the others; an optical manipulation region, the optical manipulation region comprising one or more of: an optical modulator, optical multiplexer (MUX); and additional optical manipulation elements; and one or more optical outputs for light originating from the plurality of lasers.

Improved dither detection, measurement, and voltage bias adjustments for an electro-optical modulator are described. The electro-optical modulator generally includes RF electrodes and phase heaters interfaced with semi-conductor waveguides on the arms of Mach-Zehnder interferometers, where a processor is connected to output a bias tuning voltage to the electro-optical modulator for controlling optical modulation. A variable gain amplifier (VGA) can be configured with AC coupling connected to receive a signal from a transimpediance amplifier (TIA) that is configured to amply a photodetector signal from an optical tap that is used to measure an optical signal with a dither signal. The analog to digital converter (ADC) can be connected to receive output from the VGA. The processor can be connected to receive the signal from the ADC and to output the bias tuning voltage based on evaluation of the signal from the tap.

Optical read-out of a cryogenic device (such as a superconducting logic or detector element) can be performed with a forward-biased optical modulator that is directly coupled to the cryogenic device without any intervening electrical amplifier. Forward-biasing at cryogenic temperatures enables very high modulation efficiency (1,000-10,000 pm/V) of the optical modulator, and allows for optical modulation with millivolt driving signals and microwatt power dissipation in the cryogenic environment. Modulated optical signals can be coupled out of the cryostat via an optical fiber, reducing the thermal load on the cryostat. Using optical fiber instead of electrical wires can increase the communication bandwidth between the cryogenic environment and room-temperature environment to bandwidth densities as high as Tbps/mm.sup.2 using wavelength division multiplexing. Sensitive optical signals having higher robustness to noise and crosstalk, because of their immunity to electromagnetic interference, can be carried by the optical fiber.

An optical circuit of the present disclosure shares at least a part of an electrical path including phase variable means between neighboring optical interference circuits, or configures an electrical path so as to straddle neighboring optical interference circuits, thereby performing electrical or thermal feedback. The optical circuit includes a mechanism using the electrical or thermal feedback for cancelling components of thermal crosstalk from one optical interference circuit to another neighboring optical interference circuit. The optical circuit of the present disclosure has a resistor element that shares electrical paths including respective phase variable means between the neighboring optical interference circuits. The optical circuit changes the phase change amount by the phase variable means in the neighboring optical interference circuit, in such a way as to cancel the thermal crosstalk components by the resistor element.

The light modulator includes a substrate having a main surface including a first area, a second area, and a third area, a first III-V compound semiconductor layer of a first conductivity-type provided on the first area, a second III-V compound semiconductor layer of a first conductivity-type or a second conductivity-type provided on the second area, a core provided on the third area and including a group III-V compound semiconductor, and an electrode connected to the first III-V compound semiconductor layer. The first III-V compound semiconductor layer includes a first portion having a thickness smaller than a thickness of the core in a second direction orthogonal to the main surface and a second portion having a thickness larger than the thickness of the first portion in the second direction. The second portion is disposed between the first portion and the core.

A silicon optical modulator is fabricated to have a multi-slab structure between the contacts and the waveguide, imparting desirable performance attributes. A first slab comprises dopant of a first level. A second slab adjacent to (e.g., on top of) the first slab, comprises a doped region proximate to a contact, and an intrinsic region proximate to the waveguide. The parallel resistance properties and low overlap between the highly doped silicon and optical mode pigtail afforded by the multi-slab configuration, allow the modulator to operate with reduced optical losses and at a high speed. Embodiments may be implemented in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer or in micro-ring resonator modulator configuration.