Surface-normal optical coupling using a holographic recording material
AssigneeOracle International Corporation
InventorsXuezhe Zheng, Ashok V. Krishnamoorthy, Kannan Raj, James R. Adleman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An integrated circuit includes a holographic recording material substantially filling a cavity in a semiconductor layer. During operation of the integrated circuit, a holographic pattern in the holographic recording is reconstructed and used to diffract an optical signal propagating in a plane of an optical waveguide, which is defined in the semiconductor layer out of the plane through the cavity. In this way, the holographic recording material may be used to couple the optical signal to an optical fiber or another integrated circuit.
Claims20
An integrated circuit, comprising:
- an optical waveguide defined in a semiconductor layer, wherein the optical waveguide is interposed between a cladding layer and a buried-oxide layer;
- a cavity, defined by a surface, in the semiconductor layer;
- a holographic recording material substantially filling the cavity, wherein the holographic recording material is configured to diffract an optical signal propagating in a plane of the optical waveguide out of the plane through the cavity;
- an optical fiber having a symmetry axis along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the waveguide, wherein the holographic recording material is configured to diffract the optical signal from the optical waveguide to the optical fiber, and wherein one end-face of the optical fiber is optically coupled to one edge of the cavity, wherein the optical fiber does not extend through the cavity;
- and
- a substrate;
- wherein the buried-oxide layer is disposed on the substrate, wherein the semiconductor layer is disposed on the buried-oxide layer, and wherein the cavity extends through the buried-oxide layer and the substrate.
A system, comprising:
- a processor;
- a memory configured to store a program module, wherein the program module is configurable to be executed by the processor;
- and
- an integrated circuit, wherein the integrated circuit includes:
- an optical waveguide defined in a semiconductor layer, wherein the optical waveguide is interposed between a cladding layer and a buried-oxide layer;
- a cavity, defined by a surface, in the semiconductor layer;
- a holographic recording material substantially filling the cavity, wherein the holographic recording material is configured to diffract an optical signal propagating in a plane of the optical waveguide out of the plane through the cavity;
- an optical fiber having a symmetry axis along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the waveguide, wherein the holographic recording material is configured to diffract the optical signal from the optical waveguide to the optical fiber, and wherein one end-face of the optical fiber is optically coupled to one edge of the cavity, wherein the optical fiber does not extend through the cavity;
- and
- a substrate;
- wherein the buried-oxide layer is disposed on the substrate, wherein the semiconductor layer is disposed on the buried-oxide layer, and wherein the cavity extends through the buried-oxide layer and the substrate.
A method for diffracting an optical signal in an integrated circuit, comprising:
- conveying the optical signal in a plane of an optical waveguide disposed in a semiconductor layer in the integrated circuit, wherein the optical waveguide is interposed between a cladding layer and a buried-oxide layer, wherein the buried-oxide layer is disposed on a substrate, wherein the semiconductor layer is disposed on the buried-oxide layer;
- diffracting the optical signal out of the plane of the optical waveguide using a holographic recording material that substantially fills a cavity, defined by a surface, in the semiconductor layer, wherein the cavity extends through the buried-oxide layer and the substrate;
- and
- optically coupling one end-face of an optical fiber to one edge of the cavity, wherein the optical fiber has a symmetry axis along a direction perpendicular to the plane of the optical waveguide, wherein the optical fiber does not extend through the cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.