Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe large scale steerable optical switched arrays that may be fabricated on a common substrate including many thousands or more emitters that may be arranged in a curved pattern at the focal plane of a lens thereby allowing the directional control of emitted light and selective reception of reflected light suitable for use in imaging, ranging, and sensing applications including accident avoidance.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises: a photonic integrated circuit comprising an optical phased array, a first focusing element at a fixed position relative to the optical phased array and configured to couple an optical beam to or from the optical phased array, and a second focusing element at a fixed position relative to the first focusing element and configured to couple the optical beam to or from the first focusing element. At least one of the first or second focusing element is externally coupled to the photonic integrated circuit, and the first and second focusing elements have different effective focal lengths.

Abstract: At least one beam of an optical wave is transmitted along a transmission angle toward a target location from a send aperture of a transmitter. The optical wave comprises at least a first portion, and a second portion having a different characteristic from a characteristic of the first portion. Two or more receivers include at least one receiver comprising: a receive aperture arranged in proximity to at least one of the send aperture or a receive aperture of a different receiver, an optical phased array within the receive aperture, the optical phased array being configured to receive at least a portion of a collected optical wave arriving at the receive aperture along a respective collection angle, and a filter configured to filter the received portion of the collected optical wave according to the characteristic of the first portion of the optical wave.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe large scale steerable optical switched arrays that may be fabricated on a common substrate including many thousands or more emitters that may be arranged in a curved pattern at the focal plane of a lens thereby allowing the directional control of emitted light and selective reception of reflected light suitable for use in imaging, ranging, and sensing applications including accident avoidance.

Abstract: At least one beam of an optical wave is transmitted along a transmission angle toward a target location from a send aperture of a transmitter. The optical wave comprises at least a first portion, and a second portion having a different characteristic from a characteristic of the first portion. Two or more receivers include at least one receiver comprising: a receive aperture arranged in proximity to at least one of the send aperture or a receive aperture of a different receiver, an optical phased array within the receive aperture, the optical phased array being configured to receive at least a portion of a collected optical wave arriving at the receive aperture along a respective collection angle, and a filter configured to filter the received portion of the collected optical wave according to the characteristic of the first portion of the optical wave.

Abstract: A polarization rotator structure includes: a first core structure formed at a first layer, extending from the first end to a second end, and a second core structure formed at a second layer that is at a different depth than the first layer and formed in proximity to the first core structure. The first core structure and the second core structure provide mode hybridization between at least two orthogonally polarized waveguide modes of the PRS. An optical splitter structure is optically coupled at a first end to the second end of the PRS, and optically coupled at a second end to at least two optical waveguides, and includes: a first core structure that is contiguous with at least one of the first or second core structures of the PRS, and a second core structure that is separate from both of the first and second core structures of the PRS.

Abstract: An optical switching apparatus comprises: input ports receiving respective input optical waves, each coupled to a respective beam-forming structure comprising: an input optical waveguide, an optical power distributor to distribute optical power from a mode of the optical waveguide over the respective spatial region, and a spatially distributed phase shifter to apply different transmission optical phase shifts over different portions of the respective spatial region, where the transmission optical phase shifts determine the selected transmission angle; and output ports providing respective output optical waves, each coupled to a respective beam-receiving structure comprising: a spatially distributed phase shifter to apply different reception optical phase shifts over different portions of the respective spatial region, where the reception optical phase shifts determine the selected reception angle, an optical power combiner to combine optical power from different portions of the respective spatial region into

Abstract: A polarization rotator structure includes: a first core structure formed at a first layer, extending from the first end to a second end, and a second core structure formed at a second layer that is at a different depth than the first layer and formed in proximity to the first core structure. The first core structure and the second core structure provide mode hybridization between at least two orthogonally polarized waveguide modes of the PRS. An optical splitter structure is optically coupled at a first end to the second end of the PRS, and optically coupled at a second end to at least two optical waveguides, and includes: a first core structure that is contiguous with at least one of the first or second core structures of the PRS, and a second core structure that is separate from both of the first and second core structures of the PRS.

Abstract: A plurality of waveguide structures are formed in at least one silicon layer of a first member. The first member includes: a first surface of a first silicon dioxide layer that is attached to a second member that consists essentially of an optically transmissive material having a thermal conductivity less than about 50 W/(m·K), and a second surface of material that was deposited over at least some of the plurality of waveguide structures. An array of phase shifters is formed in one or more layers of the first member. An array of temperature controlling elements are in proximity to the array of phase shifters.

Abstract: Speckle reduction in photonic phased array structures can be achieved using a receiver aperture that is configured to provide optical energy through portions of at least one optical network. The optical network is in communication with phase-controlled elements of at least one array of phase-controlled elements. Optical energy is coupled through a first portion of the optical network to a first optical detector in a detector structure, and optical energy is coupled through a second portion of the optical network to a second optical detector in the detector structure different from the first optical detector in the detector structure.

Abstract: An apparatus includes: an optical phased array (e.g., on a photonic integrated circuit), a focusing element, which can be at a fixed position relative to the optical phased array and configured to receive an optical beam from the optical phased array, and a steering element, which can be at a fixed position relative to the focusing element and configured to transmit the optical beam received from the focusing element. In some implementations, at least one of the focusing element or the steering element is externally coupled to the photonic integrated circuit.

Abstract: A plurality of waveguide structures are formed in at least one silicon layer of a first member. The first member includes: a first surface of a first silicon dioxide layer that is attached to a second member that consists essentially of an optically transmissive material having a thermal conductivity less than about 50 W/(m·K), and a second surface of material that was deposited over at least some of the plurality of waveguide structures. An array of phase shifters is formed in one or more layers of the first member. An array of temperature controlling elements are in proximity to the array of phase shifters.

Abstract: An apparatus comprises: a first integrated circuit comprising: a plurality of sets of optical waveguides, each set of optical waveguides including a plurality of optical waveguide segments, and a plurality of optical emitter elements arranged over a first surface of the first integrated circuit, each optical emitter element coupled to a distal end of one of the optical waveguide segments; and a second integrated circuit comprising: a plurality of optical phase shifters that each provide a phase-shifted optical wave that is coupled to the first integrated circuit from a first edge surface of the second integrated circuit. The first edge surface of the second integrated circuit is in proximity to a row of proximal ends of the optical waveguide segments of a first set of the plurality of sets of optical waveguides.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe optical structures and devices, and more particularly to improved, tunable optical structures including optical gratings that are dynamically affected and/or tuned by acousto-optic or electro-optic mechanisms.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe large scale steerable optical switched arrays that may be fabricated on a common substrate including many thousands or more emitters that may be arranged in a curved pattern at the focal plane of a lens thereby allowing the directional control of emitted light and selective reception of reflected light suitable for use in imaging, ranging, and sensing applications including accident avoidance.

Abstract: Optical communication with a remote node comprises: transmitting at least one optical beam to the remote node; receiving at least a portion of at least one optical beam from the remote node; providing intensity information based on one or more signals from one or more optical detector modules in an array of optical detector modules detecting the portion of the optical beam received from the remote node; and controlling at least one optical phased array to steer the optical beam transmitted to the remote node based on intensity information received from the remote node.

Abstract: A polarization rotator structure includes: a first core structure formed at a first layer, extending from the first end to a second end, and a second core structure formed at a second layer that is at a different depth than the first layer and formed in proximity to the first core structure. The first core structure and the second core structure provide mode hybridization between at least two orthogonally polarized waveguide modes of the PRS. An optical splitter structure is optically coupled at a first end to the second end of the PRS, and optically coupled at a second end to at least two optical waveguides, and includes: a first core structure that is contiguous with at least one of the first or second core structures of the PRS, and a second core structure that is separate from both of the first and second core structures of the PRS.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe large scale steerable optical switched arrays that may be fabricated on a common substrate including many thousands or more emitters that may be arranged in a curved pattern at the focal plane of a lens thereby allowing the directional control of emitted light and selective reception of reflected light suitable for use in imaging, ranging, and sensing applications including accident avoidance.

Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure describe systems, methods, and structures for aberration correction of optical phased arrays that employ a corrective optical path difference (OPD) in the near-field of an OPA to correct or cancel out aberrations in emitted beams of the OPA including those reaching far-field distances by generating a spatially-varying OPD across the aperture of the OPA that is substantially equal and opposite to an equivalent OPD of the aberration(s).

Abstract: Optical communication with a remote node comprises: transmitting at least one optical beam to the remote node; receiving at least a portion of at least one optical beam from the remote node; providing intensity information based on one or more signals from one or more optical detector modules in an array of optical detector modules detecting the portion of the optical beam received from the remote node; and controlling at least one optical phased array to steer the optical beam transmitted to the remote node based on intensity information received from the remote node.