Silicon photonics based tunable laser

A tunable laser for a transceiver, the tunable laser comprising:

• a silicon photonics substrate having a flat surface region;
• a plurality of patterned regions including at least a first patterned region and a second patterned region, each of the first patterned region and the second patterned region being defined in the silicon photonics substrate a step lower than the flat surface region, each of the first patterned region and the second patterned region comprising a plurality of alignment features;
• a plurality of laser diode chips including at least a first laser diode chip and a second laser diode chip, each of the first laser diode chip and the second laser diode chip comprising a plurality of complementary alignment features configured to mechanically engage with the plurality of alignment features in first patterned region and the second patterned region, respectively;
• the first laser diode chip having a first gain region arranged in the first patterned region, the first patterned region being configured to align the first gain region with a first integrated coupler formed in the silicon photonics substrate adjacent to the first patterned region to facilitate flip-bonding the first laser diode chip within the first patterned region;
• and
• the second laser diode chip having a second gain region arranged in the second patterned region, the second patterned region being configured to align the second gain region with a second integrated coupler formed in the silicon photonics substrate adjacent to the second patterned region to facilitate flip-bonding the second laser diode chip within the second patterned region;
• and
• a tuning filter formed in the flat surface region of the silicon photonics substrate, the tuning filter coupled to the first laser diode chip via the first integrated coupler and coupled to the second laser diode chip via the second integrated coupler, the tuning filter configured to (i) receive laser light from each of the first laser diode chip and the second laser diode chip and (ii) generate a laser output having a gain determined by each of the first gain region and the second gain region.