GRATING COUPLED CONVERTER

• US 20120027347A1
• Filed: 07/29/2010
• Published: 02/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Mathal, Sagi V., Fattal, David A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,391,656 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 385/37
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/124 Geodesic lenses or integrated gratings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/34 utilising prism or grating G02B6/293 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4213 the intermediate optical elements being polarisation selective optical elements G02B6/27 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4214 the intermediate optical element having redirecting reflective means, e.g. mirrors, prisms for deflecting the radiation from horizontal to down- or upward direction toward a device G02B6/4246 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4215 the intermediate optical elements being wavelength selective optical elements, e.g. variable wavelength optical modules or wavelength lockers G02B6/4246 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/43 Arrangements comprising a plurality of opto-electronic elements and associated optical interconnections

Abstract

A chip includes a grating coupler and an optoelectronic converter. The grating coupler is patterned to extract a first fraction of incident light and to transmit a second fraction of the incident light as an output optical signal from the chip. The optoelectronic converter receives the first fraction of the incident light from the grating coupler and produces an electrical signal from light received.

Claims

1. A system comprising a first chip that includes:

a first grating coupler that is patterned to extract a first fraction of incident light having a first frequency and to transmit a second fraction of the incident light as an output optical signal from the first chip; and

a first optoelectronic converter coupled to receive the first fraction of the incident light from the first grating coupler, wherein the first optoelectronic converter produces a first electrical signal from the first fraction of the incident light.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising active circuitry integrated in the first chip, wherein the active circuitry processes the first electrical signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first grating coupler is a sub-wavelength grating.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a second chip positioned to receive the output optical signal from the first chip, the second chip including:

a second grating coupler; and

a second optoelectronic converter coupled to receive light from the second grating coupler, wherein the second optoelectronic converter produces a second electrical signal from light received from the second grating coupler.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the second grating coupler that is patterned to extract a third fraction of incident light having the first frequency and to transmit a fourth fraction of the incident optical energy as an output optical signal from the second chip.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first and third fractions are such that optical power converted by the first optoelectronic converter is equal to optical power converted by the second optoelectronic converter.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the first grating coupler directs light having the first frequency and a first polarization to the first optoelectronic converter and the second grating coupler directs light having the first frequency and a second polarization to the second optoelectronic converter.

8. The system of claim 4, further comprising a waveguide that guides the output signal from the first chip to the second chip.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the waveguide comprises a hollow core waveguide.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein no optical elements are between the first chip and the waveguide or between the waveguide and the second chip.

11. The system of claim 8, further comprising a lens between the first chip and the waveguide or between the waveguide and the second chip.

12. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

a circuit board on which the first and the second chip are mounted;

a first electrical circuit coupled to receive the first electrical signal;

a second electrical circuit coupled to receive the second electrical signal; and

a waveguide that guides the output signal from the first chip to the second chip.

13. The system of claim 4, further comprising a server in which the first and the second chips are mounted, wherein the server further comprises:

a first subsystem coupled to receive the first electrical signal;

a second subsystem coupled to receive the second electrical signal; and

a waveguide that guides the output signal from the first chip to the second chip.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the first chip further includes:

a second grating coupler; and

a second optoelectronic converter coupled to receive light from the second grating coupler, wherein the second optoelectronic converter produces a second electrical signal from light received from the second grating coupler.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the second grating coupler is patterned to extract some incident light having the first frequency and to transmit remaining incident light from the first chip.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the second grating coupler is patterned to extract some incident light having a second frequency and to transmit remaining incident light from the first chip.

17. A system comprising:

a plurality of tap chips, each tap chip including a grating coupler and an optoelectronic converter, wherein the grating coupler directs a fraction of incident light to the optoelectronic coupler and outputs a fraction of the incident light from the tap chip; and

a plurality of waveguide sections, each of the waveguide sections being positioned between a corresponding pair of the tap chips so as to direct light output from one of the tap chips to another of the tap chips.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising a circuit board on which the tap chips are mounted.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising a plurality of electronic subsystems mounted on the circuit board, the electronic subsystems being respectively connected to receive electrical signals from the optoelectronic converters.

20. The system of claim 17, further comprising:

a first circuit board on which one or more of the tap chips are mounted; and

a second circuit board on which one or more of the tap chips are mounted, wherein

at least one of the waveguide sections directs light between the first circuit board and the second circuit board.