Patent ID: 9494736
Filing Date: 2016-11-15
CPC Classification: G02B,H01S

Claim Text:
1. A photonic integrated circuit for generating a broadband optical output, the photonic integrated circuit comprising: a silicon substrate; an optical multiplexer formed in the silicon substrate; a plurality of narrowband optical sources, each narrowband optical source to generate a narrowband optical output in response to an excitation signal; a plurality of input optical waveguides, wherein each input optical waveguide is formed in the silicon substrate to receive the narrowband optical output from a corresponding narrowband optical source and comprises an output end directed toward the optical multiplexer and an input end located on an opposite side of the corresponding narrowband optical source relative to the output end; an output optical waveguide formed in the silicon substrate; and a non-reflective scatterer located at the input end of each input optical waveguide, wherein (i) each of the plurality of input optical waveguides directs the narrowband optical output received from the corresponding narrowband optical source to the optical multiplexer and (ii) the optical multiplexer directs at least a portion of each narrowband optical output to the output optical waveguide to generate the broadband optical output.