Tunable Echelle Grating
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsYongming Tu, Alfredo Bismuto
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Configurations for a tunable Echelle grating are disclosed. The tunable Echelle grating may include an output waveguide centered in a waveguide array, with input waveguides on both sides of the output waveguide. A metal tuning pad may be located over the slab waveguide and may be heated to induce a temperature change in the slab waveguide. By increasing the temperature of the propagation region of the slab waveguide, the index of refraction may shift, thus causing the peak wavelength of the channel to shift. This may result in an optical component capable of multiplexing multiple light sources in an energy efficient manner while maintaining a small form factor.
Claims22
An optical component, comprising:
- a slab waveguide;
- a first input waveguide configured to emit a first light into the slab waveguide;
- a second input waveguide configured to emit a second light into the slab waveguide;
- a set of grating facets configured to:
- receive the first light from the first input waveguide and the second light from the second input waveguide;
- and
- reflect the emitted first light as a first reflected light and the emitted second light as a second reflected light;
- an output waveguide configured to receive the first reflected light along the first reflected light path and from the slab waveguide;
- and
- a tuning pad disposed on the slab waveguide and operable to adjust a temperature of the slab waveguide.
An optical component, comprising:
- an input waveguide configured to provide input light along an input light path and positioned at a first location on a Rowland circle;
- an output waveguide configured to receive reflected light along a reflected light path and positioned at a second location on the Rowland circle;
- and
- a diffraction grating configured to:
- receive light along the input light path of the input waveguide;
- and
- reflect light along the reflected light path to the output waveguide;
- and
- a tuning pad configured to shift a peak wavelength of a channel.
A method for multiplexing light, comprising:
- emitting a first light, by a first input waveguide, in a first wavelength range of a broadband wavelength range;
- emitting a second light, by a second input waveguide, in a second wavelength range of the broadband wavelength range, the first wavelength range separated from the second wavelength range by at least 0.2 μm;
- reflecting the first light as a reflected light in the first wavelength range from an Echelle grating along a first channel;
- tuning a peak wavelength of the first channel to a first tuned wavelength;
- and
- receiving the reflected light with the first tuned wavelength at an output waveguide.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.