Abstract: This disclosure presents a docking station into which a test card can be inserted for rapid analyte detection and reporting. This docking station has portable capability and can include wire or wireless transmission to a local server or cloud-based server. A test card that has a test structure located on the test structure that includes a modified waveguide can be inserted into the and a docking station that includes a laser and interferometer provides for accurate and rapid detection of a test sample.

Abstract: The present invention provides a single photon avalanche diode device. The device has a logic substrate comprising an upper surface. The device has a sensor substrate bonded to an upper surface of the logic substrate. In an example, the sensor substrate comprises a plurality of pixel elements spatially disposed to form an array structure. In an example, each of the pixel elements has a passivation material, an epitaxially grown silicon material, an implanted p-type material configured in a first portion of the epitaxially grown material, an implanted n-type material configured in a second portion of the epitaxially grown material, and a junction region configured from the implanted p-type material and the implanted n-type material.

Abstract: Disclosed are integrated photonics systems including a coupling strategy to couple light in and out of optoelectronic flip-chips bonded to a photonics chip. The refined tolerances for flip-chip assembly and angled facets defined on both chips at optical couplings improve optical performance.

Abstract: A tunable optical filter includes sequentially coupled Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometers. The first and last interferometers are configured to function as variable power splitter/combiner, whereas the middle interferometer or interferometers have unequal optical paths, creating a desired spectral response of the entire filter. The amplitude of the spectral response can be varied by varying the optical power splitting/combining ratios.

Abstract: A device includes three elements fabricated on a common substrate. The first element includes an active waveguide structure having at least three sub-layers supporting a first optical mode. The second element has a passive waveguide structure supporting a second optical mode, and the third element, butt-coupled to the first element, has an intermediate waveguide structure supporting intermediate optical modes. One sub-layer in the active waveguide structure includes an n-contact layer, another sub-layer includes a p-contact layer, and a third sub-layer includes an active region. A tapered waveguide structure in at least one of the second and third elements facilitates efficient adiabatic transformation between the second optical mode and an intermediate optical mode. No adiabatic transformation occurs between that intermediate optical mode and the first optical mode.

Abstract: Measurement apparatuses and methods are disclosed for generating high-precision and -accuracy gas concentration maps that can be overlaid with 3D topographic images by rapidly scanning one or several modulated laser beams with a spatially-encoded transmitter over a scene to build-up imagery. Independent measurements of the topographic target distance and path-integrated gas concentration are combined to yield a map of the path-averaged concentration between the sensor and each point in the image. This type of image is particularly useful for finding localized regions of elevated (or anomalous) gas concentration making it ideal for large-area leak detection and quantification applications including: oil and gas pipeline monitoring, chemical processing facility monitoring, and environmental monitoring.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are systems and architecture for thermal waveguide-based phase shifters which improve thermal efficiency by having multi-pass waveguides arranged under the heating element in a serpentine fashion, with the waveguides having mismatched propagation constants. The combination allows for an increase in phase shift without increasing the length or the power consumption of the resistive heating element by increasing the total length of waveguide being heated by a singular heating element.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure are drawn to apparatuses and methods for a rotating optical reflector. Optical systems may have a limited field of view, and so in order to expand the area that the optical system collects data from, the field of view of the optical system may be scanned across a target area. The present disclosure is directed to a rotating optical reflector, which includes a transmissive layer which refracts light onto a reflective layer, which has a normal which is not parallel to the axis about which the optical reflector is rotated. The optical reflector may be both statically and dynamically balanced, which may allow an increased size of the optical reflector, which in turn may increase the aperture of an optical system (e.g., a lidar system) using the rotating optical reflector.

Abstract: Apparatuses systems and methods for gas emission rate detection sensitivity and probability of detection (PoD) based on emission rate. A measurement system may be characterized by its ability to detect gas plumes as a function of the emission rate of those plumes. The measurement system may be characterized based on a generalized PoD function which expresses PoD relative to emission rate as a function of gas concentration noise and gas flow speed. In an example application, the PoD may be used to estimate a cumulative distribution of gas plumes which were not detected based on a cumulative distribution of measured gas plumes. In another example application, the PoD may be used to refine an estimate for a measured emission rate.

Abstract: Temperature measurements of photonic circuit components may be performed optically, exploiting a temperature-dependent spectral property of the photonic device to be monitored itself, or of a separate optical temperature sensor placed in its vicinity. By facilitating measurements of the temperature of the individual photonic devices rather than merely the photonic circuit at large, such optical temperature measurements can provide more accurate temperature information and help improve thermal design.

Abstract: Described herein is a die-to-wafer bonding process that utilizes micro-transfer printing to transfer die from a source wafer onto an intermediate handle wafer. The resulting intermediate handle wafer structure can then be bonded die-down onto the target wafer, followed by removal of only the intermediate handle wafer, leaving the die in place bonded to the target wafer.

Abstract: A device, such as an electroabsorption modulator, can modulate a light intensity by controllably absorbing a selectable fraction of the light. The device can include a substrate. A waveguide positioned on the substrate can guide light. An active region positioned on the waveguide can receive guided light from the waveguide, absorb a fraction of the received light, and return a complementary fraction of the received light to the waveguide. Such absorption produces heat, mostly at an input portion of the active region. The input portion of the active region can be thermally coupled to the substrate, which can dissipate heat from the input portion, and can help avoid thermal runaway of the device. The active region can be thermally isolated from the substrate away from the input portion, which can maintain a relatively low thermal mass for the active region, and can increase efficiency when heating the active region.

Abstract: Described are various configurations of optical structures having asymmetric-width waveguides. A photodetector can include parallel waveguides that have different widths, which can be connected via passive waveguide. One or more light absorbing regions can be proximate to the waveguides to absorb light propagating through one or more of the parallel waveguides. Multiple photodetectors having asymmetric width waveguides can operate to transduce light in different modes in a polarization diversity optical receiver.

Abstract: Described herein are photonic integrated circuits (PICs) comprising a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) to output a signal comprising a plurality of wavelengths, a sensor to detect data associated with a power value of each wavelength of the output signal of the SOA, a filter to filter power values of one or more of the wavelengths of the output signal of the SOA, and control circuitry to control the filter to reduce a difference between a pre-determined power value of each filtered wavelength of the output signal of the SOA and the detected power value of each filtered wavelength of the output signal of the SOA.

Abstract: A hybrid automated testing equipment (ATE) system can simultaneously test electrical and optical components of a device under test, such as an optical transceiver. The device under test can be a multilane optical transceiver that transmits different channels of data on different lanes. The hybrid ATE system can include one or more light sources and optical switches in an optical test lane selector to selectively test and calibrate each optical and electrical components of each lane of the device under test.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure are drawn to apparatuses and methods for anomalous gas concentration detection. A spectroscopic system, such as a wavelength modulated spectroscopy (WMS) system may measure gas concentrations in a target area. However, noise, such as speckle noise, may interfere with measuring relatively low concentrations of gas, and may lead to false positives. A noise model, which includes a contribution from a speckle noise model, may be used to process data from the spectroscopic system. An adaptive threshold may be applied based on an expected amount of noise. A speckle filter may remove measurements which are outliers based on a measurement of their noise. Plume detection may be used to determine a presence of gas plumes. Each of these processing steps may be associated with a confidence, which may be used to determine an overall confidence in the processed measurements/gas plumes.

Abstract: An optical pick and place machine that includes a self-calibrating optical controller for error feedback based optical placement of optical components using active alignment is described. The optical controller can include a loopback mode to generate a baseline value of light generated by a light source and measured by a photodetector within the optical controller. The optical controller can further include an active alignment mode in which the light is coupled from the pick and place machine to the optical device on which the component is placed. The optical coupling of the placed component can be evaluated against the baseline value to ensure that the optical coupling is within specification (e.g., within a prespecified range).

Abstract: Described are various configurations of reduced crosstalk optical switches. Various embodiments can reduce or entirely eliminate crosstalk using a coupler that has a power-splitting ratio that compensates for amplitude imbalance caused by phase modulator attenuation. Some embodiments implement a plurality of phase modulators and couplers as part of a dilated switch network to increase overall bandwidth and further reduce potential for crosstalk.

Abstract: An optical modulator of an optical transceiver can be calibrated using intermediate frequency (IF) signals to generate accurate crossing point values (e.g., DC bias). A photodiode can measure output from the optical modulator at intermediate and high-speed frequencies to generate crossing point values that avoid crossing point errors. A target crossing point can be selected at any value (e.g., 40%, 50%) and bias values can be generated from IF signals and then stored in a lookup date for setting the modulator bias during operation.

Abstract: In photonic integrated circuits implemented in silicon-on-insulator substrates, non-conductive channels formed, in accordance with various embodiments, in the silicon device layer and/or the silicon handle of the substrate in regions underneath radio-frequency transmission lines of photonic devices can provide breaks in parasitic conductive layers of the substrate, thereby reducing radio-frequency substrate losses.