Tunable wideband optical phase to amplitude conversion in a monolithically assembled network

We propose a serially concatenated switchable asymmetric Mach Zehnder switching network on a silicon nitride photonic integrated circuit platform to provide flexible and switchable demodulation of signals from less than 1 GHz to greater than 45 GHz. The silicon nitride platform provides a low size weight and power solution while reducing the stabilization requirements and providing long path length delays in a small volume. A novel edge coupling technique provides low insertion loss onto and off of the chip while the switching architecture enables flexibility with wavelength and optical signals. The low size weight and power of the photonic integrated circuit enables electronics and thermal controls to be integrated into the package and stay within a footprint much smaller than a desirable 10x3x1cm package further making control of the environment more easily achievable.