An optical apparatus comprises a semiconductor substrate and a slab-coupled optical waveguide (SCOW) emitter disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The SCOW emitter comprises an optical waveguide comprising: a first region doped with a first conductivity type; a second region doped with a different, second conductivity type; and an optically active region disposed between the first region and the second region. The optically active region comprises a plurality of quantum dots.

A highly-efficient ridge waveguide includes a base substrate of a single-crystal and a core substrate made of a nonlinear optical medium, the base substrate and the core substrate being directly bonded, and includes a thin film layer formed on a surface of the core substrate on the upper side of a periodically polarization-reversed structure, and becomes a wavelength conversion element. A direct bonding method through thermal diffusion is applied to bonding. The core substrate has a ridge structure formed in a light propagating direction and a reversed structure formed by processing this. A surface of the core substrate is ground and a thin film layer is formed on the ground surface. A core formed by digging a core layer of the core substrate in an unbonded state is provided on an upper surface of an undercladding layer of the base substrate in a bonded state. Two side surfaces of the core are in contact with an air layer.

A MEMs and/or NEMs measurement system includes a resonant assembly comprising: an input and an output, a plurality of N optical resonators Ri indexed i each having a resonance wavelength λr,i, at least one waveguide to which the optical resonators are coupled, at least one element coupled to each resonator Ri, an emission device, a modulation device, an injection device configured to superpose the N light beams to form an input beam and to inject the beam as input to the resonant assembly, at least one detector configured to detect a light beam arising from the beam at the output of the resonant assembly and to generate an output signal, a demodulation device comprising at least N synchronous-detection demodulation modules.

Structures for a coupler and methods of forming a structure for a coupler. A structure for a directional coupler may include a first waveguide core having one or more first airgaps and a second waveguide core including one or more second airgaps. The one or more second airgaps are positioned in the second waveguide core adjacent to the one or more first airgaps in the first waveguide core. A structure for an edge coupler is also provided in which the waveguide core of the edge coupler includes one or more airgaps.

A photodetector structure over a partial length of a silicon waveguide structure within a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) chip. The photodetector structure is embedded within a cladding material surrounding the waveguide structure. The photodetector structure includes an absorption region, for example comprising Ge. A sidewall of the cladding material may be lined with a sacrificial spacer. After forming the absorption region, the sacrificial spacer may be removed and passivation material formed over a sidewall of the absorption region. Between the absorption region an impurity-doped portion of the waveguide structure there may be a carrier multiplication region, for example comprising crystalline silicon. If present, edge facets of the carrier multiplication region may be protected by a spacer material during the formation of an impurity-doped charge carrier layer. Occurrence of edge facets may be mitigated by embedding a portion of the photodetector structure with a thickness of the waveguide structure.

The present invention provides an optical coupler comprising: a first optical prong; a second optical prong; an optical waveguide with which the first optical prong and the second optical prong merge; wherein: a distance from an axially outer tip edge of the first optical prong to an axially outer tip edge of the first optical prong is greater than a planar width of the optical waveguide; and the first optical prong and the second optical prong are each tapered from the optical waveguide.

An optical apparatus comprises a semiconductor substrate and a slab-coupled optical waveguide (SCOW) emitter disposed on the semiconductor substrate. The SCOW emitter comprises an optical waveguide comprising: a first region doped with a first conductivity type; a second region doped with a different, second conductivity type; and an optically active region disposed between the first region and the second region. The optically active region comprises a plurality of quantum dots.

The LIDAR chip includes a utility waveguide that guides an outgoing LIDAR signal to a facet through which the outgoing LIDAR signal exits from the chip. The chip also includes a control branch that removes a portion of the outgoing LIDAR signal from the utility waveguide. The control branch includes a control light sensor that receives a light signal that includes light from the removed portion of the outgoing LIDAR signal. The chip also includes a data branch that removes a second portion of the outgoing LIDAR signal from the utility waveguide. The data branch includes a light-combining component that combines a reference light signal that includes light from the second portion of the outgoing LIDAR signal with a comparative light signal that includes light that was reflected off an object located off of the chip.

A method includes forming a layer made of a first insulating material on a first layer made of a second insulating material that covers a support, defining a waveguide made of the first material in the layer of the first material, covering the waveguide made of the first material with a second layer of the second material, planarizing an upper surface of the second layer of the second material, and forming a single-crystal silicon layer over the second layer.

Methods of fabricating optical devices with high refractive index materials are disclosed. The method includes forming a first oxide layer on a substrate and forming a patterned template layer with first and second trenches on the first oxide layer. A material of the patterned template layer has a first refractive index. The method further includes forming a first portion of a waveguide and a first portion of an optical coupler within the first and second trenches, respectively, forming a second portion of the waveguide and a second portion of the optical coupler on a top surface of the patterned template layer, and depositing a cladding layer on the second portions of the waveguide and optical coupler. The waveguide and the optical coupler include materials with a second refractive index that is greater than the first refractive index.