Coupled optical waveguide resonators with heaters for thermo-optic control of wavelength and compound filter shape
Granted: April 8, 2008
Patent Number:
7356221
An integrated optical device is disclosed comprising a substrate, optical waveguide, and compound optical resonator having a temperature sensor, at least two coupled optical resonators, and a heater localized to each optical resonator. An optical input signal is coupled to one of the resonators making up the compound resonator to form an optical output signal. The center wavelength and shape of the output signal is optimized with a feedback loop using the temperature sensor to control…
Integrated optics polarization beam splitter using form birefringence
Granted: April 8, 2008
Patent Number:
7356206
A method for separating the orthogonal polarization components of an incident optical signal into two spatially separated output ports is described. The method comprises a Mach-Zehnder interferometer where one of the two branches has a section of waveguide that exhibits form-birefringence. This integrated optic Polarization Beam Splitter (PBS) is broadband, has high extinction ratio, and has characteristics that are tunable.
Monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) with integrated optical components in circuit signal channels
Granted: March 4, 2008
Patent Number:
7340122
A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) chip comprising an array of modulated sources, each providing a modulated signal output at a channel wavelength different from the channel wavelength of other modulated sources and a wavelength selective combiner having an input optically coupled to received all the signal outputs from the modulated sources and provide a combined output signal on an output waveguide from the chip. The modulated sources, combiner and output waveguide are all integrated…
Method tuning optical components integrated in a monolithic photonic integrated circuit (PIC)
Granted: January 29, 2008
Patent Number:
7324719
A method of tuning optical components integrated on a monolithic semiconductor chip having a plurality of first optical components integrated on the chip with each fabricated to approximate an emission wavelength along a given wavelength grid and together forming a first optical component wavelength grid. A second optical component is integrated on the chip with and optically coupled to the group of first optical components. The second optical component has a second optical component…
Digital optical network architecture
Granted: November 13, 2007
Patent Number:
7295783
A digital optical network (DON) is a new approach to low-cost, more compact optical transmitter modules and optical receiver modules for deployment in optical transport networks (OTNs). One important aspect of a digital optical network is the incorporation in these modules of transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) chips and receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC) chips in lieu of discrete modulated sources and detector sources with discrete multiplexers or demultiplexers.
Optical transmission network with asynchronous mapping and demapping and digital wrapper frame for the same
Granted: October 23, 2007
Patent Number:
7286487
An optical transmission network is inherently asynchronous due to the utilization of a variable overhead ratio (V-OHR). The network architecture makes extensive use of OEO regeneration, i.e., deals with any electronic reconditioning to correct for transmission impairments, such as, for example, FEC encoding, decoding and re-encoding, signal reshaping, retiming as well as signal regeneration. The optical transmission network includes a plesiochronous clocking system with intermediate…
Method of forming an integrated optical circuit
Granted: October 16, 2007
Patent Number:
7282311
A method is disclosed for forming an optical circuit on a substrate. The method includes the deployment of a plurality of mask images to define an optical circuit image in photoresist. Each of the mask images define parts of the optical circuit and the totality of all mask images substantially define an optical circuit. A photolithography system globally aligns and exposes the mask images in photoresist. The resultant composite image is substantially indistinguishable from a single image…
Transmitter photonic integrated circuits (TxPIC) and optical transport networks employing TxPICs
Granted: October 16, 2007
Patent Number:
7283694
A photonic integrated circuit (PIC) chip comprising an array of modulated sources, each providing a modulated signal output at a channel wavelength different from the channel wavelength of other modulated sources and a wavelength selective combiner having an input optically coupled to received all the signal outputs from the modulated sources and provide a combined output signal on an output waveguide from the chip. The modulated sources, combiner and output waveguide are all integrated…
Formation of cleaved grooves in a passivation layer formed over a surface of a wafer prior to wafer singulation
Granted: October 9, 2007
Patent Number:
7280715
Cleaved grooves, also referred to herein as “cleave streets”, are formed exclusively in a wafer passivation layer overlaying a wafer to provide for correctly aligned and sharp cleaves prior to singulation of the wafer into separate die or chips. The deployment of cleave streets is applicable to both Group III–V-base wafers, such as InP-based wafers with photonic integrated circuits (PICs), and silicon-based wafers with integrated circuits where such wafers utilize a passivating…
Broadband optical via
Granted: July 3, 2007
Patent Number:
7239779
A broadband optical via provides a low loss interconnection between waveguides in two vertically adjacent planar waveguiding layers. Two waveguides, one in each planar layer, evanescently interact over an interaction length, and substantially all of the power on one waveguide is transferred to the second waveguide. The relative detuning between waveguides is varied along the interaction region by tapering the width of one or both guides along the direction of propagation. The interaction…
Optical transport network
Granted: June 26, 2007
Patent Number:
7236656
An optical transport network comprises a monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) InP-based chip and a monolithic receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC) InP-based chip.
Coupled optical waveguide resonators with heaters for thermo-optic control of wavelength and compound filter shape
Granted: June 12, 2007
Patent Number:
7231113
An integrated optical device is disclosed comprising a substrate, optical waveguide, and compound optical resonator having a temperature sensor, at least two coupled optical resonators, and a heater localized to each optical resonator. An optical input signal is coupled to one of the resonators making up the compound resonator to form an optical output signal. The center wavelength and shape of the output signal is optimized with a feedback loop using the temperature sensor to control…
Optical transmission network with a receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC) utilizing an optical service chanel (OSC)
Granted: May 29, 2007
Patent Number:
7224858
An optical receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxFIC) comprises a semiconductor monolithic chip having an input to receive from an optical transmissior link a combined channel signal originating from an optical transmitter source and comprising a plurality of channel signals having different wavelengths forming a wavelength grid. An optical decorobiner is integrated in the chip and optically coupled to the input to receive the multiplexed channel signal and provide a decombined…
Oxygen-doped Al-containing current blocking layers in active semiconductor devices in photonic integrated circuits (PICs)
Granted: April 24, 2007
Patent Number:
7208770
In photonic integrated circuits (PICs) having at least one active semiconductor device, such as, a buried heterostructure semiconductor laser, LED, modulator, photodiode, heterojunction bipolar transistor, field effect transistor or other active device, a plurality of semiconductor layers are formed on a substrate with one of the layers being an active region. A current channel is formed through this active region defined by current blocking layers formed on adjacent sides of a…
Transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) chips utilizing compact wavelength selective combiners/decombiners
Granted: April 24, 2007
Patent Number:
7209611
A monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) chip and a monolithic receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC) chip include a plurality of optical signal channels together with other active elements integrated on a semiconductor chip, which chips further include an optical combiner or decombiner that is a wavelength selective comprising a supergrating or an Echelle grating which provides for a more compact chip compared to an integrated on-chip arrayed waveguide grating…
Monolithic photonic integrated circuit (PIC) CHIP
Granted: April 3, 2007
Patent Number:
7200296
An optical transmitter comprises a monolithic transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) chip that includes an array of modulated sources formed on the PIC chip and having different operating wavelengths approximating a standardized wavelength grid and providing signal outputs of different wavelengths. A wavelength selective combiner is formed on the PIC chip having a wavelength grid passband response approximating the wavelength grid of the standardized wavelength grid. The signal…
Hermaphroditic u-guide alignment structures and method thereof
Granted: March 13, 2007
Patent Number:
7190865
The invention comprises a method of connecting an integrated optical waveguide circuit component to an optical fiber array. The invention includes the steps of: providing an integrated optical waveguide circuit component having an array of N wave guide ports for optical processing that contain a subset of u-waveguides (one or more) structures for optimizing optical alignment; providing an optical fiber array having an array of at least N optical fibers, and positioning the optical fiber…
Deployment of electro-optic amplitude varying elements (AVEs) and electro-optic multi-functional elements (MFEs) in photonic integrated circuits (PICs)
Granted: January 9, 2007
Patent Number:
7162113
Electro-optic amplitude varying elements (AVEs) or electro-optic multi-function elements (MFEs) are integrated into signal channels of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) or at the output of such PICs to provide for various optical controlling and monitoring functions. In one case, such PIC signal channels may minimally include a laser source and a modulator (TxPIC) and in another case, may minimally include a photodetector to which channels, in either case, an AVE or an MFE may be…
Method of optimizing optical channel signal demultiplexing in a monolithic receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC)
Granted: January 2, 2007
Patent Number:
7158699
A method is disclosed for optimizing optical channel signal demultiplexing in a monolithic receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC) chip by providing an integrated channel signal demultiplexing with multiple waveguide input verniers provided to an WDM signal demultiplexer. The RxPIC chip may optionally include an integrated amplifier in at least some of the waveguide input verniers. The RxPIC chip may be comprised of, in monolithic form, a plurality of optional semiconductor optical…
Optical transmission network with transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) utilizing an optical service channel (OSC)
Granted: December 26, 2006
Patent Number:
7155078
An optical transmitter photonic integrated circuit (TxPIC) comprises a semiconductor monolithic chip with a plurality of optical signal channels where each channel comprises a modulated signal source. The output from the modulated signal sources are coupled to an input of an integrated optical combiner to form a WDM output signal for transmission off the TxPIC chip to an optical transmission link. An optical service channel (OSC) is also integrated on the TxPIC chip to receive a service…
