Piezoelectric deformable photonic devices
US11569431B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 10, 2020 |
| Grant date | Jan 31, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 21, 2041 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH10N30/853
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A CMOS-compatible actuator platform for implementing phase, amplitude, and frequency modulation in silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits via piezo-optomechanical coupling using tightly mechanically coupled aluminum nitride actuators is disclosed. The platform, which may be fabricated in a CMOS foundry, enables scalable active photonic integrated circuits for visible wavelengths, and the piezoelectric actuation functions without performance degradation down to cryogenic operating temperatures. A number of devices are possible, including ring modulator devices, phase shifter devices, Mach-Zehnder interferometer devices, directional coupler devices (including tunable directional coupler devices), and acousto-optic modulator and frequency shifter devices, each of which can employ the same AlN actuator platform. As all of these devices can be built on the same AlN actuator platform, numerous optical functions can be implemented on a single die.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.