Patent ID: 7194016
Filing Date: 2007-03-20
Classification: G02B,H01S

Abstract:
1. A method of horizontally generating light within a semiconductor structure, and diffracting at least a portion of the generated light out of said structure and into an optical fiber, said method comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a substrate with a bottom surface and having a lower metal contact on at least a portion of said substrate bottom surface; providing a core layer containing an active-region, a waveguide region longitudinally-displaced from an active and a passive region with an adjacent passive-end facet, said core layer being over said substrate; providing a top cladding layer on said core layer; providing a top electrode layer over said top cladding layer, providing a top metal contact on a portion of said top electrode layer over said active region; providing grating fingers extending down into said top cladding layer over at least a portion of said waveguide region to provide a diffraction grating; providing an integrated lens-grating wherein the lens-grating is spaced by at least one-hundred wavelengths from the top grating from the diffraction grating; providing a coupling block with an optical fiber attached, said coupling block connected to said semiconductor substrate; and applying a voltage between said top and lower metal contacts, whereby light is generated in said active region and at least a portion of the generated light is diffracted out of at least one of said cladding upper surface and said substrate bottom surface, and focused into said fiber by said lens-grating.