Patents Examined by Kinam Park
  • Patent number: 11489315
    Abstract: An on-chip integrated semiconductor laser structure and a method for preparing the same. The structure includes: an epitaxial structure including a first N contact layer, a first N confinement layer, a first active region, a first P confinement layer, a first P contact layer, an isolation layer, a second N contact layer, a second N confinement layer, a second active region, a second P confinement layer, and a second P contact layer sequentially deposited on a substrate; a first waveguide and a second waveguide; a first optical grating and a second optical grating; and current injection windows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: INSTITUTE OF SEMICONDUCTORS, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
    Inventors: Chengao Yang, Zhichuan Niu, Yu Zhang, Yingqiang Xu, Shengwen Xie, Yi Zhang, Jinming Shang
  • Patent number: 11489314
    Abstract: A light-emitting element includes: a laminated structure body 20 which is formed from a GaN-based compound semiconductor and in which a first compound semiconductor layer 21 including a first surface 21a and a second surface 21b that is opposed to the first surface 21a, an active layer 23 that faces the second surface 21b of the first compound semiconductor layer 21, and a second compound semiconductor layer 22 including a first surface 22a that faces the active layer 23 and a second surface 22b that is opposed to the first surface 22a are laminated; a first light reflection layer 41 that is provided on the first surface 21a side of the first compound semiconductor layer 21; and a second light reflection layer 42 that is provided on the second surface 22b side of the second compound semiconductor layer 22. The first light reflection layer 41 includes a concave mirror portion 43, and the second light reflection layer 42 has a flat shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Susumu Sato, Tatsushi Hamaguchi, Shoichiro Izumi, Noriyuki Futagawa, Masamichi Ito, Jugo Mitomo, Hiroshi Nakajima
  • Patent number: 11476637
    Abstract: A light-emitting device includes: a semiconductor laser element; a package; an optical member fixed to the package; and a first adhesive and a second adhesive fixing the optical member to the package, the second adhesive having a better resistance to light than the first adhesive. The package has an emission surface through which light from the semiconductor laser element exits the package. In the optical member, one or more first bonding regions to which the first adhesive is bonded and one or more second bonding regions to which the second adhesive is bonded are located at positions that are closer to an incidence surface of the optical member than to an emission surface of the optical member. In the optical member, the one or more first bonding regions and the one or more second bonding regions have a light transmittance of 80% or more.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: NICHIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tatsuya Kanazawa, Kazuma Kozuru
  • Patent number: 11476641
    Abstract: A window material for protecting near infrared light emitting lasers and or detectors is coated with a conductive coating that reduces the reflection at the wavelengths and angles of incidence of interest. The conductive coating allows the window to be heated by applying a bias across connected electrodes to remove or prevent the condensation of liquid water and the buildup of ice. The conductive material in the coating has some optical absorption in the hear infrared region of about 800 to 1600 nm, which in combination with multiple intervening dielectric layers also allows the transmission of 90% of the light while obtaining a resistance of less than about 30 Ohms-square. The coating reduces reflection loses from the window, without decreasing transmission by more that about 10%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: MAC THIN FILMS, INC.
    Inventors: David McLean, Amethyst Radcliffe
  • Patent number: 11469573
    Abstract: An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate having first and second faces. A first array of emitters are formed on the first face of the semiconductor substrate and are configured to emit respective beams of radiation through the substrate. Electrical connections are coupled to actuate selectively first and second sets of the emitters in the first array. A second array of microlenses are formed on the second face of the semiconductor substrate in respective alignment with the emitters in at least one of the first and second sets and are configured to focus the beams emitted from the emitters in the at least one of the first and second sets so that the beams are transmitted from the second face with different, respective first and second focal properties.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Keith Lyon, Arnaud Laflaquiere
  • Patent number: 11456570
    Abstract: A method and a system for measurement of high laser field intensity, the method comprising tight focusing a non-Gaussian azimuthally polarized laser mode beam to a focusing spot, measuring a spectral line shape of a selected ionization state induced by a longitudinal oscillating magnetic field created by the tight focusing in the focusing spot; and determining the laser intensity from the spectral line shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Inventor: Jean-Claude Kieffer
  • Patent number: 11456573
    Abstract: Single-mode distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers including single mode DFB waveguides with tapered grating structures are provided herein. Tapered grating structures provide for single mode DFB waveguides with predictable single mode operation. Uniform grating structures may provide for single mode operation, however DFB waveguides implementing uniform grating structures may operate at one of two single modes. Advantageously, DFB waveguides with tapered gratings operate with a spectrally narrow single mode at the same predictable single mode for all DFB waveguides with substantially identical specifications. Such predictability may lead to increased yield during manufacture of DFB waveguides with tapered gratings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Assignee: California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Ryan M. Briggs, Clifford F. Frez, Mathieu Fradet
  • Patent number: 11444431
    Abstract: A surface emitting laser includes a substrate, a lower contact layer disposed on the substrate, a semiconductor layer mesa including a lower reflector layer, an active layer, an upper reflector layer, and an upper contact layer which are laminated, in the order named, on the lower contact layer, an annular electrode disposed on the upper contact layer, and a light transmitting window situated inside the annular electrode to transmit laser light, wherein the upper reflector layer includes a first region and a second region, the first region being inclusive of an area situated directly below the electrode and the light transmitting window, the second region being inclusive of an area outside the mesa and inclusive of a surrounding area of the first region within the mesa, and wherein a proton concentration in the first region is lower than a proton concentration in the second region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: SUMITOMO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Daisuke Inoue
  • Patent number: 11431150
    Abstract: A vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) based system in a linear single cavity configuration is configured to deliver light in higher-order Hermite-Gaussian transverse modes with Watt-level output power. Simultaneous and independent lasing of spatially-restructurable multiple high-order transverse modes that are collinearly-propagating at the output of such laser cavity is facilitated with the use of an optical pumping scheme devised to control positions of location at which the gain medium of the system is pumped (e.g., locations of focal spots of multiple pump beams on the gain-medium chip). An external astigmatic mode converter is utilized to convert such high-order Hermite-Gaussian modes into corresponding Laguerre-Gaussian modes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona
    Inventors: Chris Hessenius, Mahmoud Fallahi, Michal L. Lukowski
  • Patent number: 11424596
    Abstract: A semiconductor layer stack, a component made therefrom, a component module, and a production method is provided. The semiconductor layer stack has at least two layers (A, B), which, as individual layers, each have an energy position of the Fermi level in the semiconductor band gap, E F - E V < E G 2 applying to the layer (A) and E L - E F < E G 2 applying to the layer (B), with EF the energy position of the Fermi level, EV the energy position of the valence band, EL the energy position of a conduction band and EL?EV the energy difference of the semiconductor band gap EG, the thickness of the layers (A, B) being selected in such a way that a continuous space charge zone region over the layers (A, B) results.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignees: Otto-von-Guericke-Universitaet Magdeburg, AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH
    Inventors: Armin Dadgar, André Strittmatter
  • Patent number: 11424589
    Abstract: A first fiber is connected to a first end of a third fiber doped with a rare earth element, and a second fiber is connected to a second end of the third fiber. In the third fiber doped with the rare earth element, a central portion of a core is more heavily doped with the rare earth element than a peripheral portion of the core is.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Toyota School Foundation
    Inventors: Kazuo Hasegawa, Daisuke Inoue, Satoru Kato, Tomoya Okazaki, Kazuya Saito, Arindam Halder
  • Patent number: 11418005
    Abstract: Described herein is a two chip photonic device (e.g., a hybrid master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA)) where a gain region and optical amplifier region are formed on a III-V chip and a variable reflector (which in combination with the gain region forms a laser cavity) is formed on a different semiconductor chip that includes silicon, silicon nitride, lithium niobate, or the like. Sides of the two chips are disposed in a facing relationship so that optical signals can transfer between the gain region, the variable reflector, and the optical amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Dominic F. Siriani, Vipulkumar K. Patel, Jock T. Bovington, Matthew J. Traverso
  • Patent number: 11418001
    Abstract: This application describes a wavelength-tunable laser apparatus, which reduces complexity of wavelength tuning of a laser. The laser includes a reflective gain unit, an optical phase shifter, a coupler, and a passive filter unit array. Furthermore, an output port of the reflective gain unit is connected to an input port of the optical phase shifter, an output port of the optical phase shifter is connected to an input port of the coupler, a first output port of the coupler is connected to an input port of the passive filter unit array, and a second output port of the coupler is an output port of the laser. The passive filter unit array includes a plurality of passive filter units, where any two of the plurality of passive filter units have different wavelength tuning ranges, and each filter unit has a linearly tunable wavelength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Luo, Qian Wang, Romain Brenot
  • Patent number: 11418006
    Abstract: An optoelectronic device includes a semiconductor substrate and an optically-active structure, including epitaxial layers defining a lower distributed Bragg-reflector (DBR) stack, a quantum well structure with P- and N-doped layers disposed respectively on opposing sides of the quantum well structure, and an upper DBR stack. Electrodes are coupled to apply a bias voltage between the P- and N-doped layers. Control circuitry, disposed on the substrate, is configured to apply a forward bias voltage between the electrodes so as to cause the optically-active structure to emit an optical pulse through the upper DBR stack, and then to reverse the bias voltage between the electrodes so as to cause the optically-active structure to output an electrical pulse to the control circuitry in response to incidence of one or more of the photons, due to reflection of the optical pulse, on the quantum well structure through the upper DBR stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: APPLE INC.
    Inventors: Arnaud Laflaquière, Fei Tan, Keith Lyon
  • Patent number: 11418007
    Abstract: A level-shifter includes an input node coupled to a laser driver input receiving a trigger signal, the input node receiving a signal indicating generation of a laser drive-pulse. A p-channel transistor has a source coupled to a supply node, a drain coupled to an output node, and a gate coupled to the input node. An n-channel transistor has a drain coupled to the drain of the p-channel transistor, a source coupled to ground, and a gate coupled to the input node. A first switch couples the input node to the output node. Another p-channel transistor has a source coupled to the supply node, a drain coupled to the output node by a second switch, and a gate coupled to the input node. The first switch closes and second switch opens when the signal is low, and the first switch opens and second switch closes when the signal is high.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignees: STMicroelectronics S.r.l., Politecnico Di Milano
    Inventors: Marco Zamprogno, Alireza Tajfar
  • Patent number: 11394177
    Abstract: A light source device includes a plurality of external-cavity laser modules configured to emit a plurality of laser beams of different peak wavelengths, the plurality of external-cavity laser modules including at least one first laser module and at least one second laser module; and a beam combiner configured to coaxially combine the plurality of laser beams to generate a wavelength-combined beam. Each of the plurality of external-cavity laser modules includes: a collimation laser light source having a Littrow configuration, and a diffraction grating configured to selectively reflect and transmit light of a predetermined wavelength. The plurality of external-cavity laser modules are arranged so that the plurality of laser beams are incident on a same region of the beam combiner at different angles. A first distance between the first laser module and the beam combiner is different from a second distance between the second laser module and the beam combiner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: NICHIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Norihiro Dejima, Masaki Omori
  • Patent number: 11387628
    Abstract: A semiconductor optical element includes: a first conductivity type semiconductor substrate; and a laminated body disposed on the first conductivity type semiconductor substrate. The laminated body includes, in the following order from a side of the first conductivity type semiconductor substrate: a first conductivity type semiconductor layer; an active layer; a second conductivity type semiconductor layer; and a second conductivity type contact layer. The second conductivity type semiconductor layer includes: a carbon-doped semiconductor layer in which carbon is doped as a dopant in a compound semiconductor; and a group 2 element-doped semiconductor layer in which a group 2 element is doped as a dopant in a compound semiconductor. The carbon-doped semiconductor layer is disposed at a position closer to the active layer than the group 2 element-doped semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignees: FUJIKURA LTD., OPTOENEGY Inc.
    Inventors: Rintaro Morohashi, Ryozaburo Nogawa, Tomoaki Koui, Yumi Yamada
  • Patent number: 11387623
    Abstract: An external cavity laser module is configured to emit a laser beam and includes: a collimation laser light source having a Littrow configuration; a diffraction grating configured to selectively reflect and transmit light of a specific wavelength; a support member supporting the collimation laser light source and the diffraction grating; and a base rotatably supporting the support member to correct an axial direction of the laser beam emitted from the external cavity laser module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: NICHIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Norihiro Dejima, Masaki Omori, Yuto Oki
  • Patent number: 11387627
    Abstract: A system for intraoral scanning includes a display, a processing unit, and a scanner to generate scan data and viewfinder images of an intraoral cavity. The processing unit is to: receive the scan data and the viewfinder images; generate a 3D model of the intraoral cavity using the intraoral scan data; output the 3D model to the display; output the viewfinder images to the display; determine which portions of the intraoral cavity have been scanned; determine a current field of view of the scanner; determine, based on the current field of view and the determined portions of the intraoral cavity that have been scanned, a visual indicator that provides guidance for positioning and orienting the field of view of the scanner; and output the visual indicator to the display.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: Align Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Yossef Atiya, Tal Verker
  • Patent number: 11387619
    Abstract: An optical system allows sharing of optical components and seed and pump light to achieve desired optical amplification in laser light while reducing the number of optical components and complexity of the overall optical system and achieving improved performance in lasers and reduced cost in fabrication and final lasers for large scale production of such lasers. Different optical gain sections can be used to allow for sharing of seed and pump light and sharing of optical components while providing multi-stage optical amplification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignees: ITF TECHNOLOGIES INC., O-NET COMMUNICATIONS (SHENZHEN) LIMITED
    Inventors: Stéphane Caplette, Hong Xie, Nigel Holehouse, Julien Magné