Hybrid active and electronic circuit with evanescent coupling

1. A hybrid active electronic and optical circuit integrated within a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafer, the SOI wafer including an insulator layer and an upper silicon layer having a thickness of less than 3 μm, the hybrid active electronic and optical circuit comprising:

a relatively narrow waveguide located within the upper silicon layer of the SOI wafer for supporting the propagation of light, said relatively narrow waveguide having a thickness of less than 3 μm;

an active electronic circuit positioned proximate the relatively narrow waveguide, wherein a flow of light through the relatively narrow waveguide can be altered depending on a property of the active electronic circuit;

a light deflector at least partially located in the upper silicon layer, the light deflector is configured to redirect light propagating within the upper silicon layer into a predetermined mode angle associated with the relatively narrow waveguide; and

an evanescent coupling region at least partially located within the upper silicon layer, the evanescent coupling region including a gap region positioned in the plane of the upper silicon layer between the light deflector and the relatively narrow waveguide for optically coupling the redirected light propagating within the upper silicon layer into the relatively narrow waveguide, such that light redirected from the light deflector can pass via the evanescent coupling gap region to the relatively narrow waveguide at the predetermined mode angle.

2. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the gap region includes a substantially constant width.

3. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the gap region includes a tapered gap portion.

4. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , further including at least one optical device, wherein altering an electric voltage applied to the active electronic circuit affects a free carrier distribution in a region of the at least one optical device, and thereby changes an effective mode index of the at least one optical device.

5. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the evanescent coupling gap region has a width of less than 9.5 μm.

6. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid active electronic and optical circuit includes a Fabry-Perot cavity.

7. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid active electronic and optical circuit includes a wavelength division multiplexer modulator.

8. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid active electronic and optical circuit includes a diode.

9. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid active electronic and optical circuit includes a transistor.

10. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid circuit includes one from the group of a p-n device, a field plated device, a Schottky device, a MOSCAP, and a MOSFET.

11. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the light deflector comprises an optical grating formed in the upper silicon layer.

12. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the light deflector comprises an optical prism formed in the upper silicon layer.

13. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 12 wherein the light deflector comprises regions of different effective mode indices to create a prism-like region in the upper silicon layer.

14. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the light deflector comprises an optical lens formed in the upper silicon layer.

15. The hybrid active electronic and optical circuit of claim 1 , wherein the evanescent coupling region electrically isolates the relatively narrow waveguide from the remaining portion of the light propagating upper silicon layer.

16. A hybrid active electronic and optical circuit integrated within a wafer, the water including an insulator layer and an upper silicon layer, the hybrid active electronic and optical circuit comprising:

a relatively thin waveguide located within the upper silicon layer of the SOI wafer for supporting the propagation of light;

an active electronic circuit positioned proximate the waveguide, wherein a flow of light through the waveguide can be altered depending on a property of the active electronic circuit;

a light deflector at least partially located in the upper silicon layer, the light deflector configured to redirect into a predetermined mode angle associated with the relatively narrow waveguide; and

an evanescent coupling region at least partially located within the upper silicon layer, the evanescent coupling region including a gap region positioned between the light deflector and the relatively narrow waveguide for optically coupling the redirected light into the waveguide, such that light emitted from the light deflector can pass via the evanescent coupling gap region to the relatively narrow waveguide at a suitable mode angle.