In an example, a photonic system includes a Si PIC with a Si substrate, a SiO.sub.2 box formed on the Si substrate, a first layer, and a second layer. The first layer is formed above the SiO.sub.2 box and includes a SiN waveguide with a coupler portion at a first end and a tapered end opposite the first end. The second layer is formed above the SiO.sub.2 box and vertically displaced above or below the first layer. The second layer includes a Si waveguide with a tapered end aligned in two orthogonal directions with the coupler portion of the SiN waveguide such that the tapered end of the Si waveguide overlaps in the two orthogonal directions and is parallel to the coupler portion of the SiN waveguide. The tapered end of the SiN waveguide is configured to be adiabatically coupled to a coupler portion of an interposer waveguide.

The teachings of the present disclosure enable contra-DC wavelength filters having improved filtering performance as compared to the prior art by including transition taper regions between a bus waveguide and a central mirror region, where the taper regions provide significantly longer interaction regions between the bus-waveguide and a grating element that defines the mirror region. In addition, the taper regions adiabatically transition a light signal between weakly coupled regimes to a strongly coupled region in the mirror region. Furthermore, contra-DC filters disclosed herein are made from silicon nitride, which enables their practical fabrication using conventional process nodes in standard silicon foundries. Such contra-DC filters provide a slow increase in coupling strength as a light signal enters the filter, which results in higher sidelobe suppression and lower insertion loss as compared to prior-art WDM filters.

Disclosed are image relay elements exhibiting transverse Anderson localization for light field and holographic energy sources. The relay elements may include a relay element body having one or more structures, where the structures can be coupled in series, in parallel and/or in stacked configurations. The structures may have multiple surfaces such that energy waves propagating therethrough the relay elements may experience spatial magnification or de-magnification.

A method determines four dimensional (4D) plenoptic coordinates for content data by receiving content data; determining locations of data points with respect to a first surface to creating a digital volumetric representation of the content data, the first surface being a reference surface; determining 4D plenoptic coordinates of the data points at a second surface by tracing the locations the data points in the volumetric representation to the second surface where a 4D function is applied; and determining energy source location values for 4D plenoptic coordinates that have a first point of convergence.

Holographic energy directing systems may include a waveguide array and a relay element. Disclosed calibration approaches allows for mapping of energy locations and mapping of energy locations to angular direction of energy as defined in a four-dimensional plenopic system. Distortions due to the waveguide array and relay element may also be compensated.

Disclosed are transparent energy relay waveguide systems for the superimposition of holographic opacity modulation states for holographic, light field, virtual, augmented and mixed reality applications. The light field system may comprise one or more energy waveguide relay systems with one or more energy modulation elements, each energy modulation element configured to modulate energy passing therethrough, whereby the energy passing therethrough may be directed according to 4D plenoptic functions or inverses thereof.

Disclosed embodiments include an energy device having an array of waveguide elements configured to direct energy along a plurality of energy propagation paths through the device, and an energy encoding element operable to limit propagation of energy along the plurality of paths. Energy uninhibited propagation paths may extend through first and second regions of energy locations, the first and seconds regions being overlapping and offsetting, and the energy encoding element may limit propagation of energy through each energy location in the first and second regions to one uninhibited energy propagation path. In an embodiment, the energy encoding element may limit propagation along uninhibited propagation paths through the first region at a first moment in time, and through the second region at a second moment in time. An energy system comprising an energy device subsystem and an energy combiner may be configured to superimpose energy from the energy locations.

Disclosed embodiments include an energy waveguide system having an array of waveguides and an energy inhibiting element configured to substantially fill a waveguide element aperture and selectively propagate energy along some energy propagation paths through the array of waveguides. In an embodiment, such an energy waveguide system may define energy propagation paths through the array of waveguides in accordance to a 4D plenoptic system. In an embodiment, energy propagating through the energy waveguide system may comprise energy propagation for stimulation of any sensory receptor response including visual, auditory, somatosensory systems, and the waveguides may be incorporated into a holographic display or an aggregated bidirectional seamless energy surface capable of both receiving and emitting two dimensional, light field or holographic energy through waveguiding or other 4D plenoptic functions prescribing energy convergence within a viewing volume.

Disclosed are systems and methods for manufacturing energy relays for energy directing systems and Transverse Anderson Localization. Systems and methods include providing first and second component engineered structures with first and second sets of engineered properties and forming a medium using the first component engineered structure and the second component engineered structure. The forming step includes randomizing a first engineered property in a first orientation of the medium resulting in a first variability of that engineered property in that plane, and the values of the second engineered property allowing for a variation of the first engineered property in a second orientation of the medium, where the variation of the first engineered property in the second orientation is less than the variation of the first engineered property in the first orientation.

The teachings of the present disclosure enable wavelength-agile WDM systems comprising wavelength drop ports based on contra-DC wavelength filters, where back-reflections at each drop port are mitigated by virtue of the system architecture. The contra-DC filters are arranged in a series along a common bus waveguide such that the operating wavelengths of the filters change in monotonic fashion through the series. As a result, back-reflections arising at each filter is suppressed by the contra-DC filter that precedes it in the series. In some embodiments, each contra-DC filter is configured such that its filter bandwidth is large enough to accommodate both its drop signal and back-reflections arising from the grating element of the preceding contra-DC filter in the series. In some embodiments, conventional back-reflection approaches are used in concert with the system-architecture approach of the present disclosure.