A method of determining residual intensity noise (RIN) of a sensor may comprise determining a first amplitude of a first harmonic of the sensor while a signal propagating through the sensor is modulated at a modulating frequency corresponding to twice an eigenfrequency of the sensor. The method may further comprise determining a second amplitude of a second harmonic of the sensor while the signal propagating through the sensor is modulated the modulating frequency, and determining the RIN of the sensor as a ratio of the first amplitude and the second amplitude.

An integrated optical system includes a wavelength tunable optical source and a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). The PIC includes a set of spatial waveguide switches having an input optically coupled to the wavelength tunable optical source and a plurality of outputs. The PIC also includes an optical emitter having a plurality of inputs, each being coupled to a respective one of the plurality of outputs of the set of spatial waveguide switches, the optical emitter configured to produce at an output an optical beam having a wavelength dependent emission direction that changes as light is switched by the set of spatial waveguide switches such that the optical beam may be steered in two dimensions.

A mirror unit 2 includes a mirror device 20 including a base 21 and a movable mirror 22, an optical function member 13, and a fixed mirror 16 that is disposed on a side opposite to the mirror device 20 with respect to the optical function member 13. The mirror device 20 is provided with a light passage portion 24 that constitutes a first portion of an optical path between the beam splitter unit 3 and the fixed mirror 16. The optical function member 13 is provided with a light transmitting portion 14 that constitutes a second portion of the optical path between the beam splitter unit 3 and the fixed mirror 16. A second surface 21b of the base 21 and a third surface 13a of the optical function member 13 are joined to each other.

An optical coherence tomography (OCT) engine includes a digital Fourier-Transform (dFT) spectrometer, a tunable delay line, and a high-speed optical phased array (OPA) scanner integrated onto a single chip. The broadband dFT spectrometer offers superior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and fine axial resolution; the tunable delay line ensures large imaging depth by circumventing sensitivity roll-off; and the OPA can scan the beams at GHz rates without moving parts. Unlike conventional spectrometers, the dFT spectrometer employs an optical switch network to retrieve spectral information in an exponentially scaling fashion—its performance doubles with every new optical switch added to the network. Moreover, it also benefits from the Fellgett's advantage, which provide a significant SNR edge over conventional spectrometers. The tunable delay line balances the path length difference between the reference and sample arms, avoiding any need to sample high-frequency spectral fringes.

A digital measuring device implemented on a photonic integrated circuit, the digital measuring device including a laser source configured to provide light, a first ring resonator configured to produce a first frequency comb of light from the laser source, wherein at least a portion of the first frequency comb of light is directed at a moving object, a local oscillator configured to provide a reference beam, at least one waveguide structure configured to combine the reference beam with light reflected from the moving object to produce a measurement beam, a first multiplexer configured to split the measurement beam into a plurality of channels spaced in frequency, and a plurality of detectors configured to detect an intensity value of each channel of the plurality of channels to measure a distance between the digital measuring device and the moving object.

The invention refers to an optical device for heterodyne interferometry, comprising a chip, a beam splitter, a first waveguide arranged on the chip, light propagating in the first waveguide being guided to the beam splitter, a second waveguide arranged on the chip, light propagating in the second waveguide being guided to and/or from the beam splitter, wherein the beam splitter, the first waveguide, and the second waveguide form part of a Michelson interferometer, wherein the first waveguide and the second waveguide at least partially form two arms of the Michelson interferometer, and wherein two further arms of the Michelson interferometer are at least partially arranged outside the chip.

In an optical device, a base and a movable unit are constituted by a semiconductor substrate including a first semiconductor layer, an insulating layer, and a second semiconductor layer in this order from one side in a predetermined direction. The base is constituted by the first semiconductor layer, the insulating layer, and the second semiconductor layer. The movable unit includes an arrangement portion that is constituted by the second semiconductor layer. The optical function unit is disposed on a surface of the arrangement portion on the one side. The first semiconductor layer that constitutes the base is thicker than the second semiconductor layer that constitutes the base. A surface of the base on the one side is located more to the one side than the optical function unit.

The invention refers to a frequency shifter for heterodyne interferometry measurements, comprising a chip, an input waveguide configured to guide a light beam, at least four phase modulators, each being arranged to receive the light beam from the input waveguide and configured to modulate a phase of the light beam, an output combiner being arranged to let the light beams modulated by each phase modulator interfere, a first output waveguide coupled to the output combiner and configured to receive the modulated light beams constructively interfering at the output combiner, a second output waveguide coupled to the output combiner and configured to receive the modulated light beams destructively interfering at the output combiner, wherein the input waveguide, the phase modulators, the output combiner, the first output waveguide and the second output waveguide are arranged on the chip.

An Optical Coherence Tomography receiver may include prisms, polarizing beam splitters, reflectors, lenses, and a photodetector array arranged in a compact package. Sample and reference beams are combined into an interference beam and split in two. The two resulting interference beams are then split into two polarization sates each. The optical path lengths for both pairs of interference beams with the same polarization state are equal or nearly equal.

An optical device for an optical sensor comprises a gain element of a semiconductor laser, a wavelength selective feedback element, and a sensing element. At least part of the wavelength selective feedback element and the sensing element are arranged in a common sensor package. The gain element is arranged to generate and amplify an optical signal. The gain element and the wavelength selective feedback element form at least part of an external cavity of the semiconductor laser, thereby providing a feedback mechanism to sustain a laser oscillation depending on the optical signal. The wavelength selective feedback element is arranged to couple out a fraction of the optical signal and direct said fraction of the optical signal towards the sensing element to probe a physical property of the sensing element.