Patent ID: 7471857

Claim:
An optical tuning method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of first optical components on a semiconductor chip, each of the plurality of first optical components producing a corresponding one of a plurality of optical signals, each of the plurality of optical signals having a peak emission wavelength; providing a plurality of second optical components on the semiconductor chip. each of the plurality of second optical components receiving a respective one of the plurality of optical signals and superimposing a respective one of a plurality of tones onto a corresponding one of the plurality of optical signals: providing a third optical component on the chip, the third optical component having a plurality of inputs and an output, each of the plurality of inputs coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of second optical components to receive a corresponding one of the plurality of optical signals, such that the third optical component combines the plurality of optical signals into an output signal; extracting the plurality of tones from a portion of the output signal; identifying a desired peak emission wavelength, the desired peak emission wavelength being associated with one of the plurality of tones; and tuning one of the plurality of peak emission wavelengths by reducing a spectral difference between said one of the plurality of peak emission wavelengths and the desired peak emission wavelength.