Patent ID: 7123794

Claim:
A method, comprising: formulating a simulated design input optical signal propagating from a designed optical input port as an optical beam substantially confined in at least one transverse dimension by a planar optical waveguide; formulating a simulated design output optical signal propagating to a designed optical output port as an optical beam substantially confined in at least one transverse dimension by the planar optical waveguide; computing an interference pattern between the simulated input and output signals; and computationally deriving an arrangement of diffractive elements of a diffractive element set from the computed interference pattern, so that when the diffractive element set is formed in the planar optical waveguide, each diffractive element set would route, between corresponding input and output optical ports, a corresponding diffracted portion of an input optical signal propagating in the planar optical waveguide that is diffracted by the diffractive element set, and so that the input optical signal would be successively incident on the diffractive elements.