Patent · US Expired

Active manipulation of light in a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure

US7187837B2 · kind B2 · utility

15Cited by
4References
37Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 28, 2005
Grant dateMar 6, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 17, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02F1/294
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An arrangement for actively controlling, in two dimensions, the manipulation of light within an SOI-based optical structure utilizes doped regions formed within the SOI layer and a polysilicon layer of a silicon-insulator-silicon capacitive (SISCAP) structure. The regions are oppositely doped so as to form an active device, where the application of a voltage potential between the oppositely doped regions functions to modify the refractive index in the affected area and alter the properties of an optical signal propagating through the region. The doped regions may be advantageously formed to exhibit any desired “shaped” (such as, for example, lenses, prisms, Bragg gratings, etc.), so as to manipulate the propagating beam as a function of the known properties of these devices. One or more active devices of the present invention may be included within a SISCAP formed, SOI-based optical element (such as, for example, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, ring resonator, optical switch, etc.) so as to form an active, tunable element.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.