Amplified multistage demultiplexer

Abstract

Described are various configurations for an amplifying optical demultiplexer. Various embodiments can receive an input signal comprising multiple sub-signals, and separate and amplify the signals within the demultiplexer. Some embodiments include a multistage demultiplexer with amplifiers located between a first and second stage. Some embodiments include a multistage demultiplexer with amplifiers located between a second and third stage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An photonic integrated circuit (PIC) demultiplexer for optical demultiplexing, the PIC demultiplexer comprising:
 a first integrated waveguide filter to receive a light beam comprising one or more optical signals and separate the light beam into a first beam and a second beam;   a plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers coupled to the first integrated waveguide filter, the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers including a first integrated semiconductor optical amplifier to receive and amplify the first beam and a second integrated semiconductor optical amplifier to receive and amplifier the second beam; and   a plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters coupled to the plurality of integrated semiconductor amplifiers to filter and output the amplified first beam and the amplified second beam from the PIC demultiplexer, the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters including a first additional integrated waveguide filter to filter the amplified first beam and further including a second additional integrated waveguide filter to filter the amplified second beam.   
     
     
         2 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters filter noise from the amplified first beam and the amplified second beam. 
     
     
         3 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , further comprising an initial integrated waveguide filter coupled to the first integrated waveguide filter, the initial integrated waveguide filter configured to receive an input light beam that is input into the PIC demultiplexer. 
     
     
         4 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the input light beam is a multi-channel Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) signal that is input into the PIC demultiplexer by an optical fiber. 
     
     
         5 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 4 , wherein the multi-channel WDM signal is a four channel WDM signal. 
     
     
         6 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 4 , wherein the first beam and the second beam are non-adjacent channels in the multi-channel WDM signal. 
     
     
         7 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 3 , wherein the initial waveguide filter is configured to separate the input light beam into the light beam and another light beam. 
     
     
         8 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 7 , wherein the first integrated waveguide filter receives the light beam from the initial integrated waveguide filter. 
     
     
         9 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 3 , further comprising a second integrated waveguide filter coupled to the initial integrated waveguide filter, the second integrated waveguide filter configured to separate the another light beam into a third beam and a fourth beam. 
     
     
         10 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers further comprise a third semiconductor optical amplifier and a fourth semiconductor optical amplifier, the third semiconductor optical amplifier to receive and amplifier the third beam, the fourth semiconductor optical amplifier configured to receive and amplify the fourth beam. 
     
     
         11 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters further comprise a third additional integrated waveguide filter to filter the amplified third beam, and wherein the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters further comprise a fourth integrated waveguide filter to filter the amplified fourth beam. 
     
     
         12 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the first integrated waveguide filter and the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters are coupled to the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers by a plurality of passive semiconductor waveguides integrated in the PIC demultiplexer. 
     
     
         13 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of passive semiconductor waveguides are passive components of the PIC demultiplexer and the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers are active components of the PIC demultiplexer that are activated by activating semiconductor material of the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers. 
     
     
         14 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the first integrated waveguide filter is a passive component of the PIC multiplexer, the first integrated waveguide filter comprising: a plurality of passive couplers that are coupled together using passive waveguides. 
     
     
         15 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters are passive filters, each of the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters including a plurality of passive couplers that are coupled together using passive waveguides. 
     
     
         16 . The PIC demultiplexer of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers are disposed between the first integrated waveguide filter and the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters in the PIC demultiplexer. 
     
     
         17 . A method for demultiplexing light using a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) demultiplexer, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a first integrated waveguide filter in the PIC demultiplexer, a light beam comprising one or more optical signals;   separating, by the by a first integrated waveguide filter, the light beam into a first beam and a second beam;   amplifying, using a plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers in the PIC demultiplexer, the first beam and the second beam, the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers including a first integrated semiconductor optical amplifier that amplifies the first beam and a second integrated semiconductor optical amplifier that amplifies the second beam; and   generating, by a plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters in the PIC demultiplexer, a filtered amplified second beam and a filtered amplified second beam, the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters including a first additional integrated waveguide filter that filters the amplified first beam and further including a second additional integrated waveguide filter that filters the amplified second beam.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters filter noise from the amplified first beam and the amplified second beam. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the PIC demultiplexer further comprises an initial integrated waveguide filter coupled to the first integrated waveguide filter, the initial integrated waveguide filter configured to receive an input light beam that is input into the PIC demultiplexer and separate the input light beam into the light beam and another light beam. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first integrated waveguide filter and the plurality of additional integrated waveguide filters are coupled to the plurality of integrated semiconductor optical amplifiers by a plurality of passive semiconductor waveguides integrated in the PIC demultiplexer.