{
  "patent_number": "US 11137544",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Tiny Bumps in Light Paths Improve Chip Communication",
  "original_title": "Method and system for grating couplers incorporating perturbed waveguides",
  "summary": "This patent describes a way to make tiny light-directing structures on computer chips more efficient by adding small, irregular bumps or changes to the light paths, helping chips talk to each other faster using light.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes a \"grating coupler\" on a \"semiconductor photonics die\" that sends or receives light signals. The core mechanism involves using \"perturbed waveguides\" within this coupler. These waveguides are not smooth; they have \"spatially overlapping scatterers along the waveguides,\" meaning the light paths have tiny, irregular features like a \"varying shape, a varying width, or a varying spacing\" (Claim 1). For example, a light signal entering a chip could be efficiently guided by these specially designed waveguides, which might have tiny bumps or wider sections that help direct the light precisely. The patent also covers \"polarization splitting grating couplers\" which can separate light based on its oscillation direction (Claim 3), often using two sets of these perturbed waveguides at an angle (Claim 4).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Grating couplers that use perfectly smooth, unperturbed waveguides without varying shapes, widths, or spacing.",
    "Grating couplers that do not have \"spatially overlapping scatterers\" along the waveguides as defined.",
    "Methods of communicating optical signals that do not involve a grating coupler on a semiconductor photonics die.",
    "Grating couplers where the perturbed waveguides do not have *any* variation in shape, width, or spacing (e.g., all are uniform).",
    "Grating couplers that handle only a single polarization without using the specific \"polarization splitting\" features described, such as two angled sets of perturbed waveguides with scatterers at intersections."
  ],
  "filed": "2019-12-17",
  "granted": "2021-10-05",
  "expires": "2039-12-17",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Luxtera",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/luxtera",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Lieven Verslegers",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/lieven-verslegers"
    },
    {
      "name": "Attila Mekis",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/attila-mekis"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "telecommunications",
    "semiconductors",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "Methods and systems for grating couplers incorporating perturbed waveguides are disclosed and may include in a semiconductor photonics die, communicating optical signals into and/or out of the die utilizing a grating coupler on the die, where the grating coupler comprises perturbed waveguides. The perturbed waveguides may include rows of continuous waveguides with scatterers extending throughout a length of the perturbed waveguides a variable width along their length. The grating coupler may comprise a single polarization grating coupler comprising perturbed waveguides and a non-perturbed grating. The grating coupler may comprise a polarization splitting grating coupler (PSGC) that includes two sets of perturbed waveguides at a non-zero angle, or a plurality of non-linear rows of discrete shapes. The PSGC may comprise discrete scatterers at an intersection of the sets of perturbed waveguides. The grating coupler may comprise individual scatterers between the perturbed waveguides.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11137544/method-and-system-for-grating-couplers-incorporating-perturbed-waveguides",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11137544/method-and-system-for-grating-couplers-incorporating-perturbed-waveguides/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11137544",
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}