LZF, we know very little about the secret sauce. What I have been able to piece together is that the recipe of the dielectric stack varies depending on the desired wavelength. And to repeat myself when we met with Vivek he commented that potentially they could avoid issuing patents because the complexity of the process was such that they expect to be far into the market long before anyone could copy. It is interesting to note that they have stated publicly that they will continue to issue patents.

It’s not all about the dielectric stack it  is about how  they have used it. How have they managed to design a platform that has the lowest insertion losses seen in industry in a fabrication flow that does not rely on any lenses but a completely automated process from start to finish? This allows for rapid production at very high volume.

I believe we can all rest easy now with the kind of validation we have just witnessed. It is very  real and I expect the company felt that this latest news would  be understood as being that sign that says POET is  on its way to becoming the  most cost effective approach available  to a very high growth market which is  expected to get  much bigger as work from home becomes a norm for many.

As point of  reference the OI platform has significantly beat the numbers quoted in that patent. Do  the math people. This  little  company is  about to change the way industry applies optics in so many applications .  

A waveguide comprising a substrate wherein a functionality of the substrate is susceptible to be degraded at temperatures greater than 400 C; a buffer layer comprising SiON on the substrate; a repeated stack of two or more SiON layers on the buffer layer, wherein the two or more layers comprise at least two layers having different indexes of refraction, wherein the buffer layer and the layers of the repeated stack are formed by a deposition process at a temperature less than or equal to 400 C.

1.      4. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein each layer of the buffer layer and the layers of the repeated stack comprises a stoichiometry of Si, O, and N to provide a stress having a magnitude less than or equal to 20 MPa.

2.      5. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein each layer of the buffer layer and the layers of the repeated stack comprises a level of impurity or a level of homogeneity to provide an optical loss less than or equal to 1 dB/cm.

6. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein a patterning of the buffer layer and the repeated stack comprises a level of uniformity to provide an optical loss less than or equal to 1 dB/cm.

7. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein the buffer layer is thicker than or equal to 4 microns, wherein the buffer layer comprises an index of refraction between 1.445 and 1.55.

8. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein the repeated stack comprises 9 repeated pairs of SiON layers, wherein each pair of SiON comprises a SiON layer having a thickness of 50 nm and a refractive index of 1.7 on a SiON layer having a thickness of 900 nm a refractive index of 1.6.

9. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein the repeated stack comprises 10 repeated pairs of SiON layers, wherein each pair of SiON comprises a SiON layer having a thickness of 500 nm and a refractive index of 1.65 on a SiON layer having a thickness of 40 nm and a refractive index of 1.7.

10. A waveguide as in claim 1 wherein the repeated stack comprises 13 repeated pairs of SiON layers, wherein each pair of SiON comprises a SiON layer having a thickness of 500 nm and a refractive index of 1.65 on a SiON layer having a thickness of 60 nm and a refractive index of 1.7.

11. A waveguide as in claim 1 further comprising one or more bottom spacer layers disposed on the buffer layer, wherein the one or more bottom spacer layers comprise one or more SiON layers having a thickness of 500 nm and refractive index between 1.55 and 1.65.

12. A waveguide as in claim 1 further comprising one or more top spacer layers disposed on the repeated stack, wherein the one or more top spacer layers comprise one or more SiON layers having a thickness between 500 nm and 850 nm and a refractive index between 1.55 and 1.7.

13. A waveguide as in claim 1 further comprising a top layer disposed on the repeated stack, wherein the top layer comprises a SiON layer having a thickness of 200 nm and refractive index of 1.445.

14. A waveguide comprising a buffer layer comprising SiON; a repeated stack of two or more SiON layers, wherein the two or more layers comprise layers having different indexes of refraction, wherein each layer of the buffer layer and the layers of the repeated stack comprises a stoichiometry of Si, O, and N to provide a stress having a magnitude less than or equal to 20 MPa.

15. A waveguide as in claim 14 wherein the stoichiometry is configured to provide an index of refraction between 1.45 and 2.15.

16. A waveguide as in claim 14 wherein the stoichiometry is configured to provide an index of refraction between 1.6 and 2.05.

17. A waveguide as in claim 14 wherein each layer of the buffer layer and the layers of the repeated stack comprises a level of impurity or a level of homogeneity to provide an optical loss less than or equal to 1 dB/cm.

18. A waveguide as in claim 14 wherein a patterning of the buffer layer and the repeated stack comprises a level of uniformity to provide an optical loss less than or equal to 1 dB/cm.

19. A waveguide comprising a buffer layer comprising SiON; a repeated stack of two or more SiON layers, wherein the two or more layers comprise layers having different indexes of refraction, wherein each layer of the buffer layer and the layers of the repeated stack comprises a level of impurity or a level of homogeneity to provide an optical loss less than or equal to 1 dB/cm.

20. A waveguide as in claim 19 wherein a patterning of the buffer layer and the repeated stack comprises a level of uniformity to provide an optical loss less than or equal to 1 dB/cm.