Methods and apparatus for photonic integration in non-polar and semi-polar oriented wave-guided optical devices

1. An apparatus comprising:

a laser diode integrated with an optical device, the laser diode comprising:

a gallium and nitrogen containing substrate member having a surface region, the surface region having either a non-polar surface orientation or a semi-polar surface orientation;

N waveguide structures each overlying a different portion of the surface region and each characterized by a gain and loss; and

total internal reflector mirrors configured to integrally couple each of the N waveguide structures, wherein:

each of the N waveguide structures is coupled to at least one immediately adjacent one of the N waveguide structures;

each of the N waveguide structures extends in a different direction than immediately adjacent ones of the N waveguide structures; and

N is at least two.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the surface region has an m-plane nonpolar surface orientation, and wherein the N waveguide structures are integrally configured to form a continuous waveguide structure, or

the surface region has the semi-polar surface orientation and a plane selected from a (20-21) plane, a (30-31) plane, a (20-2-1) plane, a (30-3-1) plane, or a (11-22) plane, or within +/−5 degrees toward a c-direction and/or toward an a-direction from the plane, and wherein the N waveguide structures are integrally configured to form a continuous waveguide structure.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a first waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate guided light with a first peak emission wavelength, and a second waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate guided light with a second peak emission wavelength, wherein the first peak emission wavelength is greater than the second peak emission wavelength.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a first waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate a first guided emission primarily in a first polarization state, and a second waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate a second guided emission primarily in a second polarization state.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the N waveguide structures form a laser cavity.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a mirror surface coupled to each end of the N waveguide structures.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a mirror is defined in a first waveguide of the N waveguide structures and/or in a second waveguide of the N waveguide structures and/or in between the first waveguide and the second waveguide, and wherein the second waveguide is electrically coupled to a power source and is configured to modulate or absorb light propagating in the second waveguide.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical device is at least one of a display device, a metrology device, a communications device, a health care or surgery device, or an information technology device.

9. An optical device comprising:

a laser diode comprising:

a gallium and nitrogen containing substrate member having a surface region, the surface region having either a non-polar surface orientation or a semi-polar surface orientation;

N waveguide structures each overlying a different portion of the surface region and each characterized by a gain and loss, wherein:

each of the N waveguide structures is coupled to at least one immediately adjacent one of the N waveguide structures;

each of the N waveguide structures extends in a different direction than immediately adjacent ones of the N waveguide structures;

each of the N waveguide structures are coupled to another one of the N waveguide structures by at least one turning mirror; and

N is at least two.

10. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein:

the surface region has an m-plane nonpolar surface orientation, and wherein the N waveguide structures are integrally configured to form a continuous waveguide structure, or

the surface region has the semi-polar surface orientation and a plane selected from a (20-21) plane, a (30-31) plane, a (20-2-1) plane, a (30-3-1) plane, or a (11-22) plane, or within +/−5 degrees toward a c-direction and/or toward an a-direction from the plane, and wherein the N waveguide structures are integrally configured to form a continuous waveguide structure.

11. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein a first waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate guided light with a first peak emission wavelength, and a second waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate guided light with a second peak emission wavelength, wherein the first peak emission wavelength is greater than the second peak emission wavelength.

12. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein a first waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate a first guided emission primarily in a first polarization state, and a second waveguide of the N waveguide structures is configured to generate a second guided emission primarily in a second polarization state.

13. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein the N waveguide structures form a laser cavity.

14. The optical device of claim 9 , further comprising a mirror surface coupled to each end of the N waveguide structures.

15. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein a mirror is defined in a first waveguide of the N waveguide structures and/or in a second waveguide of the N waveguide structures and/or in between the first waveguide and the second waveguide, and wherein the second waveguide is electrically coupled to a power source and is configured to modulate or absorb light propagating in the second waveguide.

16. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein each of the N waveguide structures are coupled to another one of the N waveguide structures by at least one total internal reflecting turning mirror.

17. The optical device of claim 9 , wherein the optical device is configured to provide at least one of cavity or wavelength tuning, mode hopping, active passive integration, facet passivation, photonic integrated circuits, or dual lasing action.