A photonic integrated device includes a first waveguide and a second waveguide. The first and second waveguides are mutually coupled at a junction region the includes a bulge region.

A system comprises a first optical component comprising a component body; at least a first waveguide formed in the component body, wherein the first waveguide is substantially mirror-symmetrical in shape relative to a line at or near the center of the first waveguide; and a self-alignment feature configured to assist in optically-coupling the first waveguide with a second waveguide located outside of the component body.

Provided is a method of manufacturing an optical integrated device. The method includes forming a lower clad layer on a substrate, forming a plurality of mask patterns arranged in one direction on the lower clad layer, forming a core layer on a portion of the lower clad layer by a selective area growth method using the mask patterns as deposition masks, and forming an upper clad layer on the core layers, wherein the mask patterns have different widths or include mask layers of different materials.

A waveguide includes a core and a cladding. The core has an inlet on which light is incident. The core includes a front portion and a rear portion located between the front portion and the inlet. The front portion and the rear portion each have a thickness that is a dimension in a first direction and a width that is a dimension in a second direction. The first direction is orthogonal to a propagation direction of the light. The second direction is orthogonal to the propagation direction of the light and the first direction. The thickness of the front portion decreases with increasing distance from the inlet.

Provided is an optical modulator manufacturing method capable of determining the quality of an optical modulator having MMI waveguides and realizing improvement in yield during manufacturing. Here, in waveguide fabrication processes, hard mask material deposition, soft mask material application, exposure, and hard mask fabrication are executed, and then in hard mask width length measurement, the hard mask width for fabricating the MMI waveguide is measured at one or more locations. In hard mask width quality determination based on machine learning results, the quality of optical characteristics of the chip is predicted and determined in advance, based on sample data created in advance by analyzing a relationship between the hard mask width and optical characteristics of the optical modulator, depending on whether the hard mask width is present in a permissible range of the sample data. Depending on the result of the above-mentioned determination the mask fabrication is redone.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods relating to the fabrication of light guide elements. An example system includes an optical component configured to direct light emitted by a light source to illuminate a photoresist material at one or more desired angles so as to expose an angled structure in the photoresist material. The photoresist material overlays at least a portion of a first surface of a substrate. The optical component includes a container containing a light-coupling material that is selected based in part on the one or more desired angles. The system also includes a reflective surface arranged to reflect at least a first portion of the emitted light to illuminate the photoresist material at the one or more desired angles.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods relating to the fabrication of light guide elements. An example system includes an optical component configured to direct light emitted by a light source to illuminate a photoresist material at one or more desired angles so as to expose an angled structure in the photoresist material. The photoresist material overlays at least a portion of a first surface of a substrate. The optical component includes a container containing a light-coupling material that is selected based in part on the one or more desired angles. The system also includes a reflective surface arranged to reflect at least a first portion of the emitted light to illuminate the photoresist material at the one or more desired angles.

Methods for patterning of multi-depth layers for the fabrication of optical devices are provided. In one embodiment, a method is provided that includes disposing a resist layer over a device layer disposed over a top surface of a substrate, the device layer having a first portion and a second portion, patterning the resist layer to form a first resist layer pattern having a plurality of first openings and a second resist layer pattern having a plurality of second openings, and etching exposed portions of the device layer defined by the plurality of first openings and the plurality of second openings, wherein the plurality of first openings are configured to form at least a portion of a plurality of first structures within the optical device, and the plurality of second openings are configured to form at least a portion of a plurality of second structures within the optical device.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure relates to a device having a first waveguide and a second waveguide arranged over a substrate. The first waveguide has a first input terminal and a first output terminal, wherein the first input terminal is configured to receive light. The second waveguide is arranged laterally beside the first waveguide and has a second input terminal and a second output terminal. The second input terminal of the second waveguide is configured to receive light. The first waveguide further includes a first portion that has a different structure than surrounding portions of the first waveguide. The second waveguide further includes a second portion that has a different structure than surrounding portions of the second waveguide. The first waveguide is spaced apart at a maximum distance from the second waveguide at the first portion and the second portion.

A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) system, preferably including a substrate, one or more photonic connections, and a plurality of circuit blocks. The circuit blocks preferably include one or more waveguides that are optically coupled to the photonic connections, such as by transition features. A method of PIC fabrication, preferably including defining a PIC structure and defining circuit blocks. The circuit blocks are preferably defined onto one or more template regions defined by the PIC structure. Photonic connections are preferably defined as part of the PIC structure. Transition features, such as transitions between the photonic connections and the circuit blocks, are preferably defined concurrently with defining the circuit blocks.