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

1. An optical device, 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 optical device 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.

3. The optical device of claim 1 , wherein 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.

4. The optical device 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.

5. The optical device 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.

6. The optical device of claim 1 , wherein the N waveguide structures form a laser cavity.

7. The optical device of claim 1 , further comprising a mirror surface coupled to each end of the N waveguide structures.

8. The optical device 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.

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

10. An optical device 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.

11. The optical device of claim 10 , 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.

12. The optical device of claim 10 , wherein 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.

13. The optical device of claim 10 , 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.

14. The optical device of claim 10 , 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.

15. The optical device of claim 10 , wherein the N waveguide structures form a laser cavity.

16. The optical device of claim 10 , further comprising a mirror surface coupled to each end of the N waveguide structures.

17. The optical device of claim 10 , 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.

18. The optical device of claim 10 , 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.

19. The optical device of claim 10 , 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.

20. The optical device of claim 10 , wherein N is greater than two.

21. The optical device of claim 1 , wherein the N waveguide structures form a continuous waveguide structure having an “S” shape.