Patent ID: 7116851

Claim:
An optical receiver photonic integrated circuit (RxPIC) comprising: a single monolithic InP chip having an input to receive a multiplexed channel signal with wavelengths within an optical signal wavelength grid from an optical telecommunication source; a gain clamped semiconductor optical amplifier (GC-SOA) having an active region and integrated in the chip at the input to amplify the multiplexed channel signal for equalized spectral amplification across the channel signal grid; a periodic grating provided in lateral juxtaposition and longitudinally co-extensive to the GC-SOA active region to generate a gain clamped signal; an optical demultiplexer integrated in the chip and optically coupled to the GC-SOA to receive the amplified, multiplexed channel signal and provide the individual channel signals on respective output waveguides from the optical demultiplexer; and a plurality of photodetectors integrated in the chip and each optically coupled to one of the output waveguides to receive a demultiplexed channel signal and convert it to an electrical signal.