Integrated freeform optical couplers

Patent · Tue Jul 05 00:00:00 EDT 2022

OSTI ID:1924871

Yu, Shaoliang; Zuo, Haijie; Hu, Juejun; Gu, Tian

Reflecting light beams off of microscale three-dimensional (3D) freeform surfaces can yield highly efficient coupling into and out of optical waveguides, optical fibers, and photonic chips. The structure of the 3D freeform reflective surface determines the shape of the reflected beam. This allows freeform reflectors to control the mode profile, rotation angle, and divergence angle of light beams. Control of beam shape enables mode matching between source output mode and target input mode, which results in low-loss optical coupling. An inventive freeform reflective surface can direct light beams in plane or out of plane via specular reflection or total internal reflection. A photonic integrated circuit with this type of freeform optical coupler can operate with a bandwidth range of at least 400 nm, potentially encompassing all visible or telecommunications wavelengths, and can be volume manufactured in photonic chips.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AR0000847
• Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
• Patent Number(s): 11,378,733
• Application Number: 16/685,201
• OSTI ID: 1924871
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English