Optical measurement systems with multi-wavelength emission
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsMark A. Arbore, Thomas C. Greening, Matthew A. Terrel, Trent D. Ridder
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Abstract
Various embodiments disclosed herein describe photonic integrated circuits and associated optical measurement systems. The photonic integrated circuit may be configured to simultaneously output light of different wavelengths from different outputs of a multiplexer. A switch network, which may include a multiplexing photonic switch, may be used to selectively route the different wavelengths to a common set of launch groups, from which the light may be emitted from the photonic integrated circuit.
Claims20
An optical measurement system, comprising:
- a photonics integrated circuit comprising:
- a light source unit, comprising:
- an Echelle grating multiplexer comprising a plurality of inputs, and a plurality of outputs positioned to receive light from the plurality of inputs;
- and
- a plurality of light sources configured to generate a first plurality of wavelengths, wherein:
- each light source of the plurality of light sources is connected to a corresponding input of the plurality of inputs;
- the plurality of light sources comprises a first group of light sources operable to emit light of a first group of wavelengths of light;
- and
- a launch group optically coupled to the light source unit and configured to emit light received from the light source unit;
- a detector group;
- and
- a controller configured to perform a first series of encoded measurements using the light source unit, the launch group, and the detector group, wherein each encoded measurement of the first series of encoded measurements comprises:
- generating, using the light source unit, light at a corresponding plurality of wavelengths, wherein the corresponding plurality of wavelengths is a corresponding subset of the first group of wavelengths;
- simultaneously emitting the corresponding plurality of wavelengths of the generated light from the launch group;
- and
- measuring, using the detector group, return light received during the simultaneous emission of the corresponding plurality of wavelengths.
A method of performing a spectroscopic measurement using an optical measurement system, the method comprising:
- performing, using a photonic integrated circuit and a detector group of the optical measurement system, a first series of encoded measurements for a first group of wavelengths to generate a first plurality of encoded measurement intensities, wherein:
- the photonic integrated circuit comprises a light source unit and a launch group;
- the light source unit comprises an Echelle grating multiplexer having a plurality of outputs;
- and
- performing the first series of encoded measurement comprises, for each encoded measurement of the first series of encoded measurements:
- generating, at a corresponding subset of the plurality of outputs of the Echelle grating multiplexer, light at a corresponding plurality of wavelengths, wherein the corresponding plurality of wavelengths is a corresponding subset of the first group of wavelengths;
- simultaneously emitting the corresponding plurality of wavelengths of the generated light from the launch group;
- and
- measuring, using the detector group, return light received during the simultaneous emission of the corresponding plurality of wavelengths to generate a corresponding encoded measurement intensity of the first plurality of encoded measurement intensities.
A method of performing a spectroscopic measurement using an optical measurement system, the method comprising:
- performing, using the optical measurement system, a first series of encoded measurements for a group of wavelengths to generate a plurality of encoded measurement intensities,
- decoding the plurality of encoded measurement intensities to generate a corresponding derived measurement intensity for each wavelength of the group of wavelengths;
- decoding the plurality of encoded references intensities to generate a corresponding derived reference intensity for each wavelength of the group of wavelengths;
- and
- generating, for each wavelength of the group of wavelength, a corresponding reference-corrected derived measurement intensity using the corresponding derived measurement intensity and the corresponding derived reference intensity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.