fabricating a semiconductor chip on a semiconductor wafer, the semiconductor chip including a photonic device, the semiconductor chip including an optical fiber attachment region in which an optical fiber alignment structure is to be fabricated, the semiconductor chip including an in-plane fiber-to-chip optical coupler positioned at an edge of the optical fiber attachment region, the in-plane fiber-to-chip optical coupler optically connected to the photonic device; and

fabricating a sacrificial optical structure on the semiconductor wafer, the sacrificial optical structure optically coupled to the in-plane fiber-to-chip optical coupler, the sacrificial optical structure including an out-of-plane optical coupler formed in a portion of the semiconductor wafer outside of the optical fiber attachment region, the out-of-plane optical coupler configured to receive input light from a light source external to the semiconductor chip, at least a portion of the sacrificial optical structure extending through the optical fiber attachment region, wherein the sacrificial optical structure is fabricated on the semiconductor wafer before the optical fiber alignment structure is fabricated in the optical fiber attachment region.