Backside illumination architectures for integrated photonic lidar

A backside light detection and ranging system comprising:

• a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprising a silicon substrate layer, a buried oxide layer, and an active layer, the buried oxide layer separating the silicon substrate layer and the active layer, the PIC comprising an infrared light source that emits infrared light from the active layer through the silicon substrate layer to one or more external objects;
• and
• an electronic integrated circuit (EIC) connected to the active layer, the EIC comprising control circuitry to transmit the infrared light through the silicon substrate layer to one or more external objects and generate distance and ranging data from reflected infrared light that is reflected from the one or more external objects;
• wherein the PIC comprises a plurality of pixels that transmit and receive the infrared light from the one or more external objects, and
• wherein each of the pixels comprises one or more multi-layered grating couplers with multiple independent-patterned layers.

A backside light detection and ranging system comprising:

• a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprising a silicon substrate layer, a buried oxide layer, and an active layer, the buried oxide layer separating the silicon substrate layer and the active layer, the PIC comprising an infrared light source that emits infrared light from the active layer through the silicon substrate layer to one or more external objects;
• and
• an electronic integrated circuit (EIC) connected to the active layer, the EIC comprising control circuitry to transmit the infrared light through the silicon substrate layer to one or more external objects and generate distance and ranging data from reflected infrared light that is reflected from the one or more external objects;
• wherein the PIC further comprises a fanout architecture to separate the infrared light into a plurality of light beams,
• wherein the fanout architecture comprises a plurality of cascaded optical switches that increasingly separate the infrared light, and
• wherein the EIC comprises analog and digital circuitry for controlling the optical switches.

A backside light detection and ranging system comprising:

• a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) comprising a silicon substrate layer, a buried oxide layer, and an active layer, the buried oxide layer separating the silicon substrate layer and the active layer, the PIC comprising an infrared light source that emits infrared light from the active layer through the silicon substrate layer to one or more external objects;
• and
• an electronic integrated circuit (EIC) connected to the active layer, the EIC comprising control circuitry to transmit the infrared light through the silicon substrate layer to one or more external objects and generate distance and ranging data from reflected infrared light that is reflected from the one or more external objects;
• wherein the PIC further comprises a receiver array of pixels that receives reflected infrared light through the silicon substrate layer, and
• wherein each pixel comprises, in the PIC, a first stage amplifier.