Example embodiments relate to multilevel coupling for phase front engineering. An example integrated optical structure for phase front engineering of optical beams includes a substrate. The integrated optical structure also includes a plurality of optical layers formed on the substrate. Each of the optical layers includes an optical phased array that includes a plurality of optical waveguides. Each of the optical layers also includes a coupling section for each of the optical waveguides. Each coupling section is configured to control the phase of an optical beam coupling out of the optical waveguide. Additionally, the integrated optical structure includes a slab waveguide formed on the substrate and between two of the optical layers. The slab waveguide is in optical communication with the coupling sections of the two optical layers. The slab waveguide includes a slab waveguide outcoupling structure.

A single mode waveguide with a straight portion and a curved portion, the curved portion having the shape of an adiabatic bend. The single mode waveguide has a curved portion that is shaped according to an adiabatic bend, with a curvature that varies continuously, and that vanishes at a point at which the curved portion is contiguous with a straight portion of the waveguide. The absence of curvature discontinuities avoids the coupling, within the waveguide, of optical power from a fundamental mode into a higher order mode and the curvature of the curved portion results in attenuation of optical power, in higher order modes, that may be coupled into the waveguide at either end.

A checkerboard imager comprises an aperture pair array in a rectangular shape, a 2D optical waveguide grating array, a 3D optical waveguide beam transmission array, a 2D optical waveguide quadrature modulation coupler array, and a photoelectric conversion data acquisition and image processing module. An object light is converged by sub-apertures of the aperture pair array, collected by the 2D optical waveguide grating array, and split into narrow-spectrum beams which are output to the 3D optical waveguide beam transmission array for cross-pairing, modulated and coupled by the 2D optical waveguide quadrature modulation coupler array, and reach the photoelectric conversion data acquisition and image processing module to obtain an object image. A method for implementing the checkerboard imager is provided where each module is independently manufactured and then integrated to improve yield of the modules and imager's optical efficiency, expand equivalent apertures, and improve working capability.

Tapered cavity structures disposed within a stratum may be configured as a spectral component splitters, a spectral component combiners, and various combinations thereof including a reflective mode of operation. The tapered cavities have an aperture at their wider and a tip at the narrower, and are dimensioned such that multi-spectral radiant energy admitted into the cavity via the aperture would depart the tapered cavity via its side periphery at a depth and/or direction dependent on its frequency and/or its polarization, and that a plurality of spectral components admitted to the cavities via the its peripheral side or sides will be mixed and emitted via the aperture. Reflective type structures where portions of radiant energy is selectively absorbed and other portions are reflected are also considered. Differing stratums are disclosed. Applications of the tapered cavities in a stratum are also disclosed

There is provided an optical multiplexing and de-multiplexing element which is provided with a slab waveguide and a waveguide structure and can reduce radiation loss caused in a connection part between the slab waveguide and the waveguide structure. The waveguide structure includes a multimode interference (MMI) waveguide coupler and a narrow-width waveguide, the MMI waveguide coupler and the narrow-width waveguide are connected to each other in this order from a connection position with the slab waveguide along the waveguide direction, step portions are formed on both sides of the MMI waveguide coupler along the waveguide direction, and the thickness of the step portion is smaller than the thickness of the MMI waveguide coupler.

To provide an optical signal processing device that can collect light from an input waveguide to form a beam array having a small diameter. The optical signal processing device includes input waveguides 302a to 302c, an array waveguide 305 and a slab waveguide 304 that is connected to a first arc 304a having the single point C as a center and input waveguides 302a to 302c and that is connected to a second arc 404b having the single point C as a center and an array waveguide 305.

A dispersive optical phased array for two-dimensional scanning is disclosed herein. The array comprises antenna blocks positioned adjacent one another. The antenna blocks comprise a plurality of antennas positioned adjacent one another and a plurality of delay lines to couple a coherent source signal to each of the antennas within the block, each delay line having an optical path length. Each of the antenna blocks acts as a dispersive phased array. The antenna blocks are arranged such that the blocks form a larger phased array where the antennas between the blocks are in phase for a discrete set of wavelengths. All antennas over the dispersive phased array can experience the same phase difference such that the beams of the individual antenna blocks align with one of the diffraction orders of the array of blocks.

There is provided an optical waveguide chip. In the optical waveguide chip, an optical waveguide circuit includes a substrate, a lower clad layer laminated on the substrate, a core layer that is laminated on the lower clad layer and corresponds to a propagation path of an optical signal, and an upper clad layer laminated on the core layer; the upper and lower clad layers in a region that does not correspond to the propagation path of the optical signal are removed across to an edge of the chip; the region from which the upper and lower clad layers have been removed is filled with a light absorbing material; and a height of the filled light absorbing material is higher than a height of an uppermost surface of the upper clad layer.

Provided is a novel beam delivery system for quantum computing applications that includes a beam delivery photonic integrated circuit on a chip and an optical relay assembly. The beam delivery photonic integrated circuit on a chip may contain one or more layers, and a layer may contain one or more inputs connecting one or more outputs. The optical relay assembly receives a beam or beams from one or more outputs from a layer of the beam delivery photonic integrated circuit. The optical relay assembly focuses each received beam on a corresponding position of an atomic object confinement apparatus.

A polarization converter based on taking a high-order TE mode as a transition mode comprises a ridge waveguide (1) and a slab waveguide (2) that are arranged in double layers and varying in width, and a strip waveguide (4) which is varying in width. The ridge waveguide (1) is disposed on the upper end face of the slab waveguide (2), and is aligned with two ends of the slab waveguide (2). The right end of the ridge waveguide (1) and the slab waveguide (2) are connected with the strip waveguide (4) with the varying width. A TM.sub.0 mode enters from the left ends of the ridge waveguide and the slab waveguide, and is converted into a TE.sub.0 mode for output. On the contrary, the TE.sub.0 mode enters from the right end of the strip waveguide and is converted into the TM.sub.0 mode for output.