An optical subassembly includes a planar dielectric waveguide structure that is deposited at temperatures below 400 C. The waveguide provides low film stress and low optical signal loss. Optical and electrical devices mounted onto the subassembly are aligned to planar optical waveguides using alignment marks and stops. Optical signals are delivered to the submount assembly via optical fibers. The dielectric stack structure used to fabricate the waveguide provides cavity walls that produce a cavity, within which optical, optoelectronic, and electronic devices can be mounted. The dielectric stack is deposited on an interconnect layer on a substrate, and the intermetal dielectric can contain thermally conductive dielectric layers to provide pathways for heat dissipation from heat generating optoelectronic devices such as lasers.

Thermally compensated waveguides are disclosed herein. According to one aspect, the present disclosure proposes new ways to combine negative TOC (NTOC) material layers within the waveguides. NTOC materials can be implemented in one or more of a cladding layer, a core rib/channel waveguide, a horizontally segmented waveguide, a vertically segmented waveguide, a sub-wavelength grating structure, and/or in various other waveguide structure implementations including arbitrary core or cladding shapes. The integration of NTOC materials improves the temperature dependence of the waveguide spectrum. The need for fast and efficient optical-based technologies is increasing as Internet data traffic growth rate is overtaking voice traffic, pushing the need for optical communications. The new waveguide structures can be integrated into waveguides, individual devices, integrated devices like arrayed waveguide grating devices, and photonic integration circuits (PICs), decreasing temperature dependence of such devices and circuits.

Photonic integrated circuits utilizing interferometric effects, such as wavelength multiplexers/demultiplexers, include a free-space coupling region having two core layers that have thermo-optic coefficients of opposite sign. The two core layers are configured to provide athermal or nearly-athermal operation. Described examples include integrated array waveguide grating devices and integrated echelle grating devices. Example material systems include LNOI and SOI.

A dependency of a characteristic of an optical circuit on an optical signal intensity occurring due to input of a high intensity optical signal is reduced in a waveguide type optical interferometer circuit. The waveguide type optical interferometer circuit is a waveguide type optical interferometer circuit formed in one plane, and includes an input waveguide, an optical branching unit, an optical coupling unit, an output waveguide, and optical waveguides having different lengths from each other and being interposed between the optical branching unit and the optical coupling unit. A light intensity compensating region is formed on an optical path extending from the optical branching unit to the optical coupling unit, and the light intensity compensating region is formed by using a light intensity compensating material having a light intensity coefficient different from a light intensity coefficient of an optical distance relative to an incident light intensity in the optical path.

An arrayed waveguide grating. The arrayed waveguide grating (145) includes two star couplers (130, 150) and an array of waveguides (215, 225) connecting the star couplers. The array of waveguides of the arrayed waveguide grating may have a T-shaped geometry making possible an arrayed waveguide grating with an arbitrarily large free spectral range in a compact form factor. Different materials may be used in the optical paths to reduce the temperature dependence of the characteristics of the arrayed waveguide grating.

A manufacturing system for fabricating optical waveguides includes a diffusion channel with a plurality of inlets at a first end and an outlet at a second end opposite to the first end and separated from the inlets by a channel length. Each of the plurality of inlets includes a central inlet flowing a first resin into the diffusion channel such that the first resin flows along the channel length of the diffusion channel toward the outlet, and an outer inlet flowing a second resin along a periphery of the first resin. The second resin may have an index of refraction different than the first resin. The diffusion may occur between portions of the first resin and portions of the second resin over the channel length to form a composite resin having a profile with a plurality of indices of refraction in at least one dimension.

An optical subassembly includes a planar dielectric waveguide structure that is deposited at temperatures below 400 C. The waveguide provides low film stress and low optical signal loss. Optical and electrical devices mounted onto the subassembly are aligned to planar optical waveguides using alignment marks and stops. Optical signals are delivered to the submount assembly via optical fibers. The dielectric stack structure used to fabricate the waveguide provides cavity walls that produce a cavity, within which optical, optoelectronic, and electronic devices can be mounted. The dielectric stack is deposited on an interconnect layer on a substrate, and the intermetal dielectric can contain thermally conductive dielectric layers to provide pathways for heat dissipation from heat generating optoelectronic devices such as lasers.

Provided is a waveguide photodetector including a semiconductor substrate, a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide, which are sequentially laminated on the semiconductor substrate, in which each of the first optical waveguide and the second optical waveguide includes a first portion and a second portion, and the first portion extends from the second portion in a first direction parallel to a top surface of the semiconductor substrate, a refractive index matching layer disposed on the second portion of the second optical waveguide, a clad layer disposed on the refractive index matching layer, and an absorber disposed between the refractive index matching layer and the clad layer. Here, the second optical waveguide has a first conductive-type, the clad layer has a second conductive-type opposite to the first conductive-type, and the refractive index matching layer includes a first semiconductor layer that is an intrinsic semiconductor layer.

A multi-path interference filter. The multi-path interference filter includes a first port waveguide, a second port waveguide, and an optical structure connecting the first port waveguide and the second port waveguide. The optical structure has a first optical path from the first port waveguide to the second port waveguide, and a second optical path, different from the first optical path, from the first port waveguide to the second port waveguide. The first optical path has a portion, having a first length, within hydrogenated amorphous silicon. The second optical path has a portion, having a second length, within crystalline silicon, and the second optical path has either no portion within hydrogenated amorphous silicon, or a portion, having a third length, within hydrogenated amorphous silicon, the third length being less than the first length.

A manufacturing system for fabricating optical waveguides includes a diffusion channel with a plurality of inlets at a first end and an outlet at a second end opposite to the first end and separated from the inlets by a channel length. Each of the plurality of inlets includes a central inlet flowing a first resin into the diffusion channel such that the first resin flows along the channel length of the diffusion channel toward the outlet, and an outer inlet flowing a second resin along a periphery of the first resin. The second resin may have an index of refraction different than the first resin. The diffusion may occur between portions of the first resin and portions of the second resin over the channel length to form a composite resin having a profile with a plurality of indices of refraction in at least one dimension.