Planar multiwavelength optical power supply on a silicon platform

1. A microphotonic light source comprising:

an optical pump;

a plurality of waveguides that distribute optical pump power of said optical pump, said waveguides comprising silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) or silicon oxynitride (SiON) waveguides;

a plurality of Erbium-doped laser ring structures that are coupled to at least one of said waveguides, each of said Erbium-doped laser rings having radial dimensions designed to match the resonance condition for both said optical pump and associated wavelengths, said Erbium-doped laser ring structures comprising Erbium-doped Si 3 N 4 or SiON and having multi-wavelength signal emissions at approximately 1.55 μm; and

a plurality of undoped routing ring structures aligned along a principal waveguide bus to distribute the power from the optical pump to regions comprising said Erbium-doped laser ring structures; wherein

said Erbium-doped laser ring structures and said undoped routing ring structures are of varying dimensions and act as selective pump routers and signal filters.

2. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 , wherein said waveguides comprise silicon nitride Si 3 N 4 .

3. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 , wherein said waveguides comprise silicon oxynitride (SiON).

4. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 , wherein said at least one Erbium-doped laser ring comprises silicon oxynitride (SiON).

5. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 , wherein said at least one Erbium-doped laser ring comprises silicon nitride Si 3 N 4 .

6. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 , wherein said optical pump comprises pump radiation of a 980 nm laser source.

7. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of output planar waveguides that output each laser wavelength generated by said laser rings.

8. The microphotonic light source of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of output filter waveguides.

9. A method of forming a microphotonic light source comprising:

providing an optical pump;

providing a plurality of waveguides that distribute optical pump power of said optical pump, said waveguides comprising silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) or silicon oxynitride (SiON) waveguides; and

providing a plurality of Erbium-doped laser ring structures that are coupled to at least one of said waveguides, each of said Erbium-doped laser ring structures having radial dimensions designed to match the resonance condition for both said optical pump and associated wavelengths, said Erbium-doped laser ring structures comprising Erbium-doped Si 3 N 4 or SiON and having multi-wavelength signal emissions at approximately 1.55 μm; and

providing a plurality of undoped routing ring structures aligned along a principal waveguide bus to distribute the power from said optical pump to regions comprising said Erbium-doped laser ring structures; wherein

said Erbium-doped laser ring structures and said undoped routing ring structures are of varying dimensions and act as selective pump routers and signal filters.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein said waveguides comprise silicon nitride Si 3 N 4 .

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein said waveguides comprise silicon oxynitride (SiON).

12. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one Erbium-doped laser ring comprises silicon oxynitride (SiON).

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein said at least one Erbium-doped laser ring comprises silicon nitride Si 3 N 4 .

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein said optical pump comprises pump radiation of a 980 nm laser source.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising providing a plurality of output planar waveguides that output each laser wavelength generated by said laser rings.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising providing a plurality of output filter waveguides.