Patent Description:
Gyroscopes (sometimes also referred to as "gyros") are devices that are able to sense angular velocity. Gyroscopes can be mechanical or optical, and vary in precision, performance cost and size. The applications include, but are not limited to, military, aircraft navigation, robotics, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality, augmented reality, gaming etc. Optical gyroscopes typically have the highest performance and are based on interferometric measurements and the Sagnac effect (a phenomenon encountered in interferometry that is elicited by rotation). Since optical gyroscopes do not have any moving parts, they have advantages over mechanical gyroscopes as they can withstand effects of shock, vibration and temperature variation better than the mechanical gyroscopes with moving parts. The most common optical gyroscope is the fiber optical gyroscope (FOG). Construction of a FOG typically involves a long loop (or a coil comprising several loops) of polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber. Laser light is launched into both ends of the PM fiber traveling in different directions. If the fiber coil is moving, the optical beams experience different optical path lengths with respect to each other. By setting up an interferometric system, one can measure the small path length difference that is proportional to the area of the enclosed loop and the angular velocity of the rotating coil.

Phase signal of an optical gyro is proportional to the Sagnac effect times the angular rotation velocity, as shown in the following equation: <MAT> where,.

These FOG's can have very high precision, but at the same time, they are of large dimension, are very expensive, and are hard to assemble due to the devices being built based on discrete optical components that need to be aligned precisely. Often, manual alignment is involved, which is hard to scale up for volume production. Documents <CIT>, <CIT> and <CIT> respectively describe integrated optical circuits or chips for use in an optic gyroscope.

Disclosed herein are system components and methods to produce a small-footprint integrated photonics optical gyroscope. Integrated photonics optical gyroscopes may be based on silicon photonics, which are abbreviated as SiPhOG™ (Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope), though compound semiconductor (III-V semiconductor) based integrated photonics optical gyroscopes are also within the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, some embodiments of the integrated photonics optical gyroscopes may have a combination of silicon photonics and III-V semiconductor based photonics components. The inventors design an integrated photonics chip with higher-level system architecture and key performance parameters in mind, including, but not limited to laser performance, tuning parameters, detector parameters, as well as packaging considerations.

The key to fiber-based optical gyroscope's performance is the long length of high quality, low loss, optical fiber that is used to measure the Sagnac effect. The present inventors recognize that with the advent of integrated photonics suitable for wafer scale processing, there is an opportunity to replace FOGs with smaller integrated photonic chip solutions without sacrificing performance. Photonics based optical gyros have reduced size, weight, power and cost, but in addition can be mass produced in high volume, are immune to vibration and have the potential to offer performances equivalent to FOGs.

One key element of this integrated photonic solution is to couple an integrated photonics chip with integrated photonic components thereon to a waveguide chip that replaces the long length of a polarization-maintaining (PM) optical fiber coil containing very low loss waveguides. The integrated photonics chip as well as the waveguide chip can be manufactured using wafer scale processes.

The solution disclosed herein involves low-loss waveguide coils (patterned in the shape of a spiral, which may be circular or any other geometry suitable for volume manufacturing) or rings. Either of these WG coil designs may be on a same plane or may be distributed among a plurality of vertical planes to increase the length of the optical path while avoiding the increased loss caused by intersecting waveguides in the state-of-the-art designs. The waveguide design and manufacture techniques are described in co-pending <CIT>.

A laser source of suitable wavelength (which may deviate from <NUM> for optical gyroscope applications to achieve optimum waveguide loss) may be fiber-coupled to the integrated photonics chip. The receiving end of the waveguide on the integrated photonics chip may be tapered (i.e. flared to match the size of the core of a single-mode fiber, which is typically <NUM>-<NUM>). The waveguide on the integrated photonics chip is polarization maintaining (e.g., TE polarized), which may be achieved by suitable design of the waveguide. For example, strip waveguides are designed to primarily select TE mode over TM mode when laser light is coupled into the integrated photonics chip. A plurality of mode-selective filters, which are based on multi-mode interference (MMI) filter, are introduced in the system architecture. Additionally, implant regions are introduced around the waveguides and other optical components to block unwanted/stray light into the waveguides and optical signal leaking out of the waveguide.

On-chip detectors on the integrated photonics chip can be p-i-n photodetectors or avalanche photodiodes (APDs) that convert light to electrical signal. The detectors are used for measuring the Sagnac effect, for testing as well as power monitoring.

Various types of integrated photonics chips may be fabricated to test the performance of the optical gyroscope. The different designs may have additional components added or removed for testing purposes, e.g., for packaging experiments, testing and or assembly. Various designs may be accommodated in a multi-project wafer (MPW).

Specifically, aspects of the disclosure includes, An integrated photonics-based front-end chip for coupling light into and out of an optical gyroscope component, the front-end chip comprising:
a laser source producing light, wherein the laser source comprises one or more semiconductor lasers; control electronics for the laser source; an input coupler that couples the light from the laser source into an integrated photonics waveguide structure that propagates the coupled light in the form of a guided optical beam towards the optical gyroscope component; one or more optical mode-selective filters integrated with the integrated photonics waveguide structure to select a preferred optical mode of the guided optical beam, wherein at least one of the optical mode-selective filters comprises a plurality of multi-mode interference (MMI) filters in series; at least one optical splitter in the path of the guided optical beam to produce a first branch and a second branch of the guided optical beam; a phase modulator that modulates optical phases of the first branch and the second branch of the guided optical beam relative to each other; a first output coupler that couples the first branch of the guided optical beam with a first end of a gyroscope waveguide structure on the optical gyroscope component; a second output coupler that couples the second branch of the guided optical beam with a second end of the gyroscope waveguide structure on the optical gyroscope component; and, an optical detector coupled with the at least one optical splitter, wherein the optical detector receives an optical signal representing an optical phase difference in the return paths of the first branch and second branch of the guided optical beam after traveling within the gyroscope waveguide structure on the optical gyroscope component and after being coupled back to the integrated photonics waveguide structure via the first output coupler and the second output coupler.

The present disclosure will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various implementations of the disclosure. Please note that the dimensions shown in the figures are for illustrative purposes only and not drawn to scale.

Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to integration of compact ultra-low loss waveguide chips with other system-level integrated photonics components for optical gyroscope applications. The system integration is done with large scale manufacturing in mind to facilitate mass production of integrated photonics optical gyroscopes.

<FIG> illustrates a high-level architecture <NUM> for a typical fiber optical gyroscope based on Sagnac effect. The architecture involves a laser source <NUM> sending optical signal to a polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber coil <NUM> via intermediate system components. The intermediate system components include an optical isolator <NUM>, a polarizer <NUM>, and phase modulators <NUM> and <NUM>. The polarizer <NUM> and phase modulators <NUM> and <NUM> may be part of a lithium niobate (LiNbO<NUM>) multi-functional integrated optical chip (MIOC) <NUM>. Also, even if for clarity, the fiber coil <NUM> is shown to have just one loop, in actual devices, there may be a plurality of turns, depending on the length of fiber required to take advantage of the Sagnac effect. The phase modulators <NUM> and <NUM> may be along two branches of a <NUM>/<NUM> splitter within the MIOC <NUM>. Light going in one direction sees a different (shorter or longer) path length than light going in the opposite direction, creating measurable phase shift due to Sagnac effect. The phase modulators may be electrically driven by a function generator <NUM> (e.g., a sine or square wave generator).

Signal from the function generator <NUM> is sent to a lock-in amplifier <NUM>, which also receives signal from a photodetector <NUM> which receives directional optical signal from the circulator <NUM>. The output <NUM> represents the phase shift in the gyroscope due to Sagnac effect caused by the difference in optical path length.

<FIG> illustrates a high-level architecture <NUM> for a fiber optical gyroscope where at least some components of the front end of a conventional architecture (e.g., what is shown in <FIG>) are replaced with integrated photonics components. Components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> are functionally equivalent to the corresponding components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> described in <FIG>. However, many of the components within the modified front end <NUM> can be fabricated using standard semiconductor manufacturing. For example, the components on the MIOC <NUM> may comprise all integrated photonics components. The laser source <NUM> and the fiber coil <NUM> may be outside of the modified front end <NUM>, though further integration is possible, as described below. The fiber coil <NUM> constitutes the sensing portion <NUM> in the architecture <NUM>, and in embodiments described below, the fiber coil may be replaced by a waveguide chip acting as the sensing portion <NUM>. The output <NUM> is the measured phase shift due to optical path length difference. In addition, electronics may be integrated on chip, for example, as shown with respect to the illustrative embodiment in <FIG> below.

<FIG> is a schematic of one embodiment <NUM> of an integrated photonics chip <NUM> that couples to a fiber coil, or a waveguide chip (not shown) that can replace the fiber coil in <FIG> and <FIG>. The one or more optical mode-selective filters of the integrated chip including a plurality of MMI filters are not shown in all the figures (for example, they are not shown in <FIG>), but they are shown in, e.g., <FIG> and <FIG>. The integrated photonics chip in embodiment <NUM> coupled with the waveguide chip constitute a gyroscope (e.g., a SiPhOG when silicon photonics is used) which may be part of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) package. Note that IMU may have other components, such as accelerometers, in addition to the integrated photonics optical gyroscope. Therefore, making the integrated photonics optical gyroscope part compact reduces the overall size, weight power and cost of the IMU. This weight reduction can be crucial for certain applications, for example, lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles. IMU may be a needed technology component a for more establishing sensing technologies for autonomous vehicles, such as LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) , radar and cameras that will be used in future generation of autonomous vehicles.

In the waveguide chip (also referred to as the "gyro chip" or "sensing chip"), low-loss waveguide core may be made of silicon nitride (Si<NUM>N<NUM>), and the waveguide cladding may be made of fused silica or oxide. This waveguide structure is also referred to simply as SiN waveguide, and a chip containing the SiN waveguide is referred to as a SiN waveguide chip in the figures.

Referring back to <FIG>, the laser source (not shown) is coupled to the integrated photonics chip <NUM> via a fiber, which may be a single-mode (SM) fiber. The core size of a SM fiber is typically in the <NUM>-<NUM> range. An input waveguide on the integrated photonics chip <NUM> may have to be designed with a flared end for efficient coupling with the SM fiber carrying the optical signal from the laser source to the integrated photonics chip. Note that instead of fiber-coupling, laser light may be butt-coupled to the integrated photonics chip. Though the element <NUM> is labeled as a fiber coupler in the illustrative figures, it is generically an input coupler, as claimed. An optical tap (e.g., a tap that may take out <NUM>-<NUM>% of optical power) may send part of the optical signal to a detector <NUM> to measure the coupling efficiency between the laser source and the integrated photonics chip. Optionally, an optical phase modulator <NUM> may be inserted in the optical path that eventually leads to an optical splitter, e.g., <NUM> x <NUM> optical splitters <NUM> and <NUM>. Note that some embodiments may have two 2x2 splitters, some other embodiments may have an Y-splitter, and yet other embodiments may have a 2x2 splitter and a Y-splitter. Also note that the laser source may be on-chip, as shown in <FIG> either by direct attach or can be III-V bonded or epitaxially grown or grown using Quantum Dot technology on the front-end chip substrate. The optical phase modulator <NUM> may spread the linewidth of the laser source, as described further below.

The splitters and/or directional couplers are designed on-chip in the embodiment shown in <FIG> to emulate circulator (as in <FIG> and <FIG>) for optimized light back into the detector <NUM> (may be referred to as Sagnac detector-this is the key detector in the integrated photonics chip <NUM>) for phase measurement. The integrated chip includes a phase modulator that modulates optical phases of the first branch and the second branch of the guided optical beam relative to each other. Electrical (p-n junction based) or other type of phase modulators may be incorporated in one or both of the two branches of the waveguide leading to output couplers 332a and 332b that are optimized for coupling out to the SiN waveguide chip. For example, thermal phase modulators may have lower insertion loss compared to other types of phase shifters, and are easy to integrate with the waveguides. The phase modulators may operate in a push-pull configuration to enhance the efficacy of the Sagnac effect. For push-pull operation, phase modulators are included in both output waveguide branches. However, in some embodiments, only one branch of the output waveguide has a phase modulator, i.e. one of the modulators <NUM> or <NUM> may not be present, or may not be used. For example, <FIG> shows that just one branch of a waveguide has a phase modulator. <FIG> shows that even though a phase modulator <NUM> is included (dashed line) for optional use in the push-pull mode, optical beam in only one branch can be modulated. Also note that though the word "output" is used to describe the waveguides branches and output couplers 332a and 332b, the same structures receive the return optical beams as input from the SiN chip once the beams have traveled through the sending coil or optical resonator in the SiN chip.

A non-limiting illustrative dimension of the SiN waveguide in the gyro chip is a height (i.e. thickness of the patterned waveguide core layer) of <NUM> and a lateral width of <NUM>. Persons skilled in the art would appreciate that these illustrative dimensional values mentioned in the specification are not limiting to the scope of the disclosure. To lower waveguide loss, it may be beneficial to have symmetric upper and lower claddings around the SiN core. This structure may be obtained via wafer bonding of fused silica wafers or other suitable materials such as oxide. The thickness of the waveguide SiN layer may vary between <NUM>-<NUM> and the width may vary between <NUM>-<NUM> depending on the desired optical mode. The design of the output couplers 332a and 332b varies based on waveguide dimensions on the SiN waveguide chip. Output spacing and/or optimal placement of couplers 332a and 332b on the photonics chip can be determined using simulation before fabricating the integrated photonics chip <NUM>. SiN waveguides on fused silica platform are described in co-pending provisional applications <CIT>, titled, "Integrated Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscope on Fused Silica Platform," and <CIT>, titled "Single-layer and Multi-layer Structures for Integrated Silicon Photonics Optical Gyroscopes.

In addition to the Sagnac detector <NUM>, additional detectors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may be incorporated to measure (for testing and/or monitoring) propagation and coupling losses at various places along the integrated photonics chip as well as to measure coupling efficiency between the integrated photonics chip and the SiN waveguide chip. For example, detectors <NUM> and <NUM> may be coupled to optical taps (e.g., <NUM>-<NUM>% of the optical power is tapped) that measure coupling efficiency at the output couplers 332a and 332b. The detectors can be p-i-n photodetectors (PIN diodes) that convert light to electrical signal. The detectors can also be avalanche photodiodes (APDs). One of the advantages of using APDs is the gain achievable at the detector reduces the need to increase the laser power. Note that all of the detectors <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> may not be used in all embodiments. Also, some detectors on the test chip masks may be taken away from the product mask once the chip design is optimized and chip performance is optimized, requiring less number of detectors for monitoring.

<FIG> shows various electronics integrated on the integrated photonics chip <NUM>. For example, an on-chip signal generator <NUM> may be coupled to the phase modulator <NUM>. On-chip trans-impedance amplifier (TIA) and/or other types of amplifiers to boost detected signal may be integrated on-chip as well, as shown with components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM>, coupled to the corresponding detectors. Additionally, a phase modulator driver <NUM> may be integrated on-chip to impart optical phase difference between the two output waveguide branches. Integrating electronics with photonics in some cases improves performance and reduces noise and provides feedback controls. Although not shown in <FIG>, laser power monitoring detectors and corresponding electronics may be part of an integrated photonics chip.

<FIG> shows that a deep implant (shown as the thick rectangle) around the Sagnac detector <NUM> is key to avoid any optical signals leaking or scattering in from the integrated photonic chip into the Sagnac phase difference signal that is being measured by the detector <NUM>. More details about the use of implant to avoid light leakage is described with respect to <FIG>.

<FIG> is a schematic of an alternative embodiment <NUM> of an integrated photonics chip that couples to a SiN waveguide chip, where the optical path includes a polarizer <NUM> or optical mode selective filter. According to the embodiments, the optical mode selective filter includes a plurality of MMI filters (as is shown in, e.g., <FIG> and <FIG>). Other components in embodiment <NUM>, such as <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, 432a, 432b, <NUM> and <NUM> are functionally equivalent to the corresponding components <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, 332a, 332b, <NUM> and <NUM> shown and described with respect to <FIG>.

<FIG> is schematic of yet another embodiment <NUM> of an integrated photonics chip that couples to a SiN waveguide chip, wherein the integrated photonics chip is designed to facilitate packaging. In this design, instead of 2x2 splitter(s), a Y-splitter <NUM> is incorporated. Note that the Y-splitter should be as close to <NUM>-<NUM> as possible. The embodiment shown in <FIG> may be used for customized testing purposes.

<FIG>shows how light that is typically confined within the raised portion of the rib waveguide (as shown in <FIG>) on the photonics chip <NUM> may be leaking into the slab portion of the rib waveguide. This leakage happens in the straight portions of the waveguides too, but are especially prominent around bends, curves, junctions and/or any interface. Both the figures (I) and (II) in <FIG> are simulated contours of optical mode in the rib waveguide. The leaky or scattered light can propagate throughout the entire integrated photonic chip <NUM> and bounce around, which may detrimentally affect performance of the detectors, including the key Sagnac detector <NUM>, if the leaked light gets mixed with the optical signal coming from the waveguide gyro coil. In one embodiment, the raised portion of the rib waveguide may have a height of <NUM>-<NUM>, and the slab portion of the rib waveguide may have a height of <NUM>-<NUM>, making the total height of the rib waveguide in the range of <NUM>-<NUM>. Other dimensions may be used too.

In order to keep the light confined to the waveguide, the inventors use a solution illustrated in <FIG>. High dose of implants (e.g., peak concentration of <NUM>^<NUM> dopants per cm<NUM>) all the way through the slab around the waveguides absorbs scattered light, so that it does not leak out to other components, including the detectors or adjacent waveguides. As shown in later figures, alternative design for the waveguide is also introduced to confine a specific mode within the waveguide. One alternative design is known as the strip waveguide shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> shows top view of the layout of a chip very similar to the chip shown in <FIG>, where implants are shown (in thick lines) around the waveguides including the Y-junctions to reduce crosstalk between the two branches of the Y-splitter and also to block scattered light that may come to the edges of the chip from external sources.

<FIG> shows top view of another layout of an integrated photonics optical gyroscope front end with implant (shown as the thick lines) all around the waveguides of the 2x2 splitters (such as splitters shown schematically in <FIG>) and around the Sagnac photodetector (such as detector <NUM> shown schematically in <FIG>). <FIG> shows a polarizer (such as a polarizer shown in <FIG>) as an optional component. The need for a polarizer may be eliminated by proper design of the waveguide (e.g., TE polarized waveguide) or use of appropriate mode selective filters in the integrated chip.

<FIG> is schematic of a package housing a laser, various integrated circuits for control, an integrated photonics chip and a SiN waveguide chip. The package <NUM> includes an integrated photonics chip <NUM> (which may be similar to embodiments shown in <FIG>), and a SiN waveguide chip <NUM>. The SiN waveguide chip <NUM> may have a waveguide spiral in one plane, as shown in <FIG>, where the input and output waveguides intersect, because direction of light cannot change. Alternatively, in order to avoid intersecting waveguides, portions of the waveguide coil or ring may be distributed among a plurality of vertical planes, as described in co-pending <CIT>. The laser source <NUM> is outside of the integrated photonics chip <NUM>, and possibly fiber-coupled to chip <NUM> or butt coupled. Discrete control ICs <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> for the laser <NUM> and/or the chip <NUM> may be inside the package <NUM>, but not integrated on the same wafer platform. As the degree of integration increases, many of these discrete ICs may be monolithically integrated into the chip <NUM>.

<FIG> is schematic of a configuration where a laser chip <NUM> is attached to an integrated photonics chip <NUM> but not part of the integrated photonics chip, i.e. the laser is off-chip. There may be additional components, such as an isolator <NUM> and a lens <NUM> (ball lens or other type of suitable lens) hybridly integrated on the laser chip <NUM>. The components on the chip <NUM> are similar to components shown and described with respect to <FIG>, but persons skilled in the art would readily ascertain that other arrangement of system components (e.g., what is shown in <FIG> or <FIG>) are entirely possible. Using a lens to focus the light emitting from the laser <NUM> may dictate the design of the optical coupler <NUM> (at input waveguide end) on the chip <NUM>.

<FIG> is schematic of a configuration showing higher degree of on-chip integration, where the laser <NUM>, isolator <NUM> and a lens <NUM> are integrated on the integrated photonics chip <NUM>. Using a lens to focus the light emitting from the laser <NUM> may dictate the design of the optical coupler <NUM> (at input waveguide end) on the chip <NUM>. Other components in <FIG> are identical to the embodiment in <FIG>. In addition the laser may be bonded using III-V hybrid bonding or grown epitaxial onto silicon.

<FIG> is a plot showing wavelength dependent loss for different waveguide configurations. Note that in the overall design of integrated photonics optical gyroscope, the laser source is designed for the wavelength optimum for the waveguide loss. The laser source itself may be broadband and additional components may be used to tune to the desired wavelength. Attenuation in a waveguide is caused by loss of optical signal due to absorption and scattering within the waveguide, as well as radiation loss due to geometric features of the waveguide, such as, microbending and/or sidewall roughness. Scattering and absorption depend on the wavelength of light. In silica-based waveguides containing hydroxyl ions (OH-) impurities, the interaction between vibrating silicon-hydroxyl (Si-OH) bonds and the electromagnetic field of the optical signal causes enhanced absorption at certain harmonic wavelengths. Long-haul fiber optic communication systems utilize <NUM> as the optimum wavelength for single-mode optical fibers because it is sufficiently away from the enhanced absorption windows and the scattering losses are very low too. However, for integrated photonics optical gyroscope applications, adhering stringently to the <NUM> wavelength is not a requirement because long-haul optical communication is not an applicable premise here. Rather choosing a wavelength that corresponds to the lowest loss in the SiN waveguide is of importance.

<FIG> shows three graphs where measured loss (in dB/m) is plotted against wavelength for three different waveguide configurations: graph <NUM> for a narrower width waveguide, graph <NUM> for an intermediate width waveguide and graph <NUM> for a wider waveguide. As see in <FIG>, for all three configurations of the waveguide, the loss in the <NUM> wavelength region is much higher (in the vicinity of <NUM> dB/m) compared to the loss in the <NUM>-<NUM> wavelength region, where loss is below <NUM>. With improved waveguide fabrication process (including fine tuning the annealing process to extricate water from the fused silica or oxide), and focus on sidewall smoothing, the loss can be lower than <NUM>. By selecting the proper laser wavelength one can optimize the signal, lower laser power or improve overall performance of the integrated photonics optical gyroscope. Note that even lower losses have been measured with modified designs and dimensions of the waveguides than what are shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> shows an embodiment <NUM> where many components are similar to the design shown in <FIG>. However, the key differences with <FIG> include using two lasers 1010a and 1010b for doubling the power and/or for redundancy in case one laser malfunctions. Standard commercially available Distributed Feedback (DFB) or Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers may have low power (in the range of <NUM>-<NUM> mW) per laser. So combining lasers helps in harnessing more power with low-cost high-volume-manufactured lasers easily available in the market.

Also, it is possible to use two or more lasers (instead of using one laser) and directly modulate the lasers to spread the linewidth and help with coherency. The modulator <NUM> provides random phase noise onto the combined beam from the two or more lasers to smear them to address coherency between the two lasers, and generate an output beam that is equivalent to a broadband light coming from a single source. Two or more lasers thus can be combined to increase the overall power vs one laser with large power. An additional detector may be used to tap the optical signal to monitor the laser signal and power levels.

<FIG> is identical to <FIG> with the exception of a series of lasers (<NUM>,. , N) instead of just two lasers. <FIG> also shows that additional components, such as thermal sensor <NUM> may be integrated on the integrated photonics chip to monitor whether the chip is operating at a desired temperature range so that the laser performance is not degraded.

<FIG> shows a modified design of waveguide on the integrated photonics chip <NUM>. Instead of rib waveguides shown in <FIG>, strip waveguides <NUM> are introduced, as strip waveguides are better suited for confining transverse electron (TE) mode than transverse magnetic (TM) mode (i.e. confined optical mode <NUM> has predominantly TE component). In an embodiment, a strip waveguide may have a height ('h') of <NUM> and a width of <NUM>-<NUM>. The major difference between a rib waveguide and a strip waveguide is that there is no slab portion in a strip waveguide, and the waveguide is etched all the way down to the substrate <NUM> (e.g. the buried oxide layer on a silicon substrate). Implant regions <NUM> may surround the strip waveguides to prevent light leakage and/or to blocking stray light from other components or the chip environment. For example, when TM or TE mode leaks out of a strip waveguide, it is absorbed in the implant region so that it does not reach detectors or other optical components. In addition to making the waveguides inherently TE mode-selective by design, TM filters may be placed at different locations along the optical path on the integrated photonics chip. Note that rib waveguides may have lower loss for both TE and TM, but strip waveguides may be designed in such a way have lower loss for TE while much higher loss for TM. There maybe be also transitions from strip to rib waveguides and vice versa throughout the chip for various optical devices. For example, the phase modulators are typically rib waveguide based devices. Note that the SiN waveguides on the gyro chip are already similar to strip waveguides, as they do not have a slab portion.

<FIG> shows some example location of TM filters. Since input light coming from the fiber may have both TE and TM modes, there may be TM filters in between the input coupler <NUM> and the first 2x2 splitter <NUM>. Each TM filter may constitute a TM filter bank comprising a plurality of individual filters in series. For example, in <FIG>, each stage <NUM> and <NUM> of a TM filter may have <NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>,<NUM>. multi-mode interference (MMI) filters. One or more TM filter <NUM> may also be placed before light reaches the key detector (i.e. Sagnac detector <NUM> shown in previous figures) or at other places throughout the integrated photonics chip as needed to improve performance. For example, a TM filter <NUM> may be included to provide the functionality of a polarizer <NUM> shown in <FIG> or the polarizer shown in <FIG>). Note that though not shown in <FIG>, the key detector <NUM> may be surrounded by implant regions. Note that, in some embodiments, only one branch of the waveguide has a phase modulator (electrical and/or thermal). For example, the phase modulator <NUM> (shown with dashed line) may be absent altogether or not actively used in certain operational modes, while phase modulator <NUM> may be actively used to introduce phase difference between the optical beams in the two branches of the output waveguide.

<FIG> shows an embodiment similar to the embodiment of <FIG>, but with the addition of thermal modulators (<NUM>, <NUM>) in addition to high-speed electrical modulators (<NUM>, <NUM>) for an extra means for phase shifting on the two output waveguide branches. The system may have just high speed modulators or just thermal modulator or combination of both on single or both arms.

As mentioned above, the TM filters are based on MMI filters. <FIG> show a serpentine structure that can be used as a TM filter but does not fall within the scope of the invention. <FIG> show simulated leakage of TE light around the bends of the serpentine structure, and <FIG> show simulated leakage of TM light around the bends of the serpentine structure. Since TM leakage is much more prominent, the output of the serpentine structure will have mostly TE light with TM light being filtered out.

<FIG> shows a MMI filter that can be used as a TM filter. Designing proper length and width of the MMI portion, TM mode can be mostly filtered out.

<FIG> shows simulated TE/TM optical power transmission plots for an MMI filter for different lengths. Plot <NUM> indicates TE power transmission, and plot <NUM> indicates TM power transmission. For example, at a designed length of <NUM>, transmission for TE mode is <NUM>% and transmission for TE mode is <NUM>% for each MMI filter. This translates to a loss for TE mode (LTE) equal to -<NUM> dB per MMI filter, and a loss for TM mode (LTM) equal to -<NUM> dB per MMI filter. The extinction ratio (ER) is <NUM> dB per MMI filter. Effectiveness of filtering TM out can be achieved by using multiple MMI filters in series (e.g., <NUM>, <NUM> or more MMI filters).

Claim 1:
An integrated photonics-based front-end chip (<NUM>, <NUM>) for coupling light into and out of an optical gyroscope component, the front-end chip comprising:
a laser source producing light, wherein the laser source comprises one or more semiconductor lasers;
control electronics for the laser source;
an input coupler (<NUM>, <NUM>) that couples the light from the laser source into an integrated photonics waveguide structure of the integrated photonics-based front end chip that propagates the coupled light in the form of a guided optical beam towards the optical gyroscope component;
one or more optical mode-selective filters (<NUM>, <NUM>) integrated with the integrated photonics waveguide structure to select a preferred optical mode of the guided optical beam, wherein at least one of the optical mode-selective filters comprises a plurality of multi-mode interference (MMI) filters in series;
at least one optical splitter (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) in the path of the guided optical beam to produce a first branch and a second branch of the guided optical beam;
a phase modulator (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) that modulates optical phases of the first branch and the second branch of the guided optical beam relative to each other;
a first output coupler (332a, 432a) that couples the first branch of the guided optical beam with a first end of a gyroscope waveguide structure on the optical gyroscope component;
a second output coupler (332b, 432b) that couples the second branch of the guided optical beam with a second end of the gyroscope waveguide structure on the optical gyroscope component; and
an optical detector (<NUM>, <NUM>) coupled with the at least one optical splitter, wherein the optical detector receives an optical signal representing an optical phase difference in the return paths of the first branch and second branch of the guided optical beam after traveling within the gyroscope waveguide structure on the optical gyroscope component and after being coupled back to the integrated photonics waveguide structure via the first output coupler and the second output coupler.