| Entries |
| Document | Title | Date |
|---|
| 20080199129 | OPTICAL MODULE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - An optical module with a first optical waveguide substrate having end faces; a second optical waveguide substrate which includes a first optical waveguide, a second optical waveguide, and end faces, the second optical waveguide substrate having an opening between the first optical waveguide and the second optical waveguide; and a first deflection device which is mounted in the opening, wherein one of the end faces of the first optical waveguide substrate and one of the end faces of the second optical waveguide substrate are coupled to each other. | 08-21-2008 |
| 20080212922 | Switchable Optical Element - A switchable optical element has an optical axis. The element includes a chamber, a wave front modifier having a face defining an interior surface of the chamber (the face extending transverse the optical axis), a first fluid and a second fluid. The fluids are immiscible and in contact over an interface. The optical element is switchable between a first discrete state in which the first fluid substantially covers the face of the wave front modifier, and a second discrete state in which the second fluid substantially covers the face of the wave front modifier, wherein the chamber encloses both fluids in both discrete states, and the interlace extends transverse the optical axis in the first discrete state. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080212923 | Plasmon gate - A variety of structures, methods, systems, and configurations can support plasmons for logic. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20080219619 | FIBER LENS ASSEMBLY FOR OPTICAL DEVICE - A fiber lens assembly is configured to optically couple an optical fiber to a signal processing device having free-space optical elements. The fiber lens assembly includes a diverging lens having a focal length that may be around 2 to 6 times the diameter of the optical fiber core. Sensitivity of the fiber lens assembly to angular misalignment and positional displacement is reduced by coupling the optical fiber to the signal processing device using a diverging lens rather than a collimating lens, and by configuring the diverging lens with a suitable focal length. | 09-11-2008 |
| 20080226225 | LIGHT ACTIVATED OPTICAL SWITCH THAT INCLUDES A PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENT WITH LAYERS OF PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIAL HAVING DIFFERENT PIEZOELECTRIC CHARACTERISTICS - A light activated optical switch has a piezoelectric element that has at least two layers of piezoelectric material with each layer having different piezoelectric characteristics. The piezoelectric characteristics of the layers are selected to enhance the performance of the piezoelectric element and ultimately to enhance the performance of the optical switch. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080240649 | Optical switch with co-axial alignment beam - A method and system for creating and co-aligning a first array of optical beams with a second array of optical beams. In a preferred application the invention is used in a cross connect optical switch. A first set of alignment beams are created and added to and aligned co-axially with each of the first set of parallel collimated cross-connect communication beams. A second set of alignment beams are created and added to and aligned co-axially with each of the second set of parallel collimated cross-connect communication beams. A preferred embodiment includes an injection unit with a “point” infrared light source such as a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) operating in the near infrared at 850 nm and having a divergence of about 30 degrees. The beam from this source is collimated with collimator optics to produce a collimated beam with a cross sectional dimension of about 16 millimeter×16 millimeters. This collimated beam is separated into 128 separate beams with a mask having 128 0.6 mm diameter apertures that are positioned to align the 128 separate parallel beams with the communication beams from a fiber bundle. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20080253714 | LIGHT ACTIVATED OPTICAL SWITCH THAT INCLUDES A PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENT AND A CONDUCTIVE LAYER - A light activated optical switch includes at least one conductive layer located adjacent to a piezoelectric element to enhance the electrical field that is applied to the piezoelectric element in response to an activation light. The conductive layer has free electrons or electron holes that collect on a surface adjacent to the piezoelectric element when the activation light is applied to the piezoelectric element. The collection of free electrons near the piezoelectric element enhances the electrical field that is applied to the piezoelectric element in response to the activation light. The enhanced electrical field is used to enhance the performance of the piezoelectric element and ultimately to enhance the performance of the optical switch. | 10-16-2008 |
| 20080267557 | Integrated Magneto-Optical Devices for Uni-Directional Optical Resonator Systems - A resonator system comprises an optical resonator that supports one or more pairs of nearly degenerate defect states. One or more magnetic domains comprising at least one gyrotropic material in the optical resonator cause magneto-optical coupling between the two states so that the system lacks time-reversal symmetry. In one embodiment, a single magnetic domain is used that dominates induced magneto-optical coupling between the defect states. The above resonator system may be used together with other components such as waveguides to form circulators, add drop filters, switches and memories. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080273833 | Plasmon switch - A variety of structures, methods, systems, and configurations can support plasmons for logic. | 11-06-2008 |
| 20080285912 | INTEGRATED CIRCUIT WITH OPTICAL SWITCH - An integrated circuit having an optical switch includes an optical body configured to transmit light, the optical body having a boundary, and a thin film disposed at the boundary that is configured to selectively change a pseudo-Brewster angle of light reflected at the boundary. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20090003766 | Continuous optical null tracking method for optical switch - A method and apparatus are provided for real-time correction of a voltage drift of an optical switch. The correction may be made without interrupting an optical data stream of the optical switch. Three voltage states of the optical switch may be monitored continuously to determine whether a voltage drift has occurred. Upon determining that the voltage drift has occurred, a signal processing unit with voltage correction circuitry may apply a voltage to a single port of the optical switch to adjust the three voltages of the optical switch equally to achieve a minimum null signal. The technique may be extended to adjust a voltage drift of multiple optical switches connected in series. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20090016675 | Plasmon multiplexing - A variety of structures, methods, systems, and configurations can support plasmons for multiplexing. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090022453 | Optical Deflection Method and Optical Deflection Apparatus - An optical deflection apparatus includes a signal light source configured to emit signal light having one or more wavelengths, a control light source configured to emit control light having a wavelength different from the wavelength of the signal light, a thermal lens forming optical element including a light absorption layer configured to transmit the signal light and selectively absorb the control light, and a beam-condensing unit configured to cause beam-condensation of the control light and the signal light at different convergence points in the light absorption layer. The thermal lens forming optical element causes convergence and divergence of the control light and the signal light on an incidence plane of the light absorption layer or its vicinity in a light traveling direction, wherein a thermal lens is reversibly formed in the light absorption layer due to a temperature increase occurring in a region where the control light is absorbed and its peripheral region, and the thermal lens changes a refractive index to change a traveling direction of the signal light. | 01-22-2009 |
| 20090052837 | Polarization-based optical switching - An optical switch, comprising a plurality of light inputs and a plurality of light outputs. The switch additionally includes a polarization beam splitter, configured to split light beams received through the input carriers into separate first and second polarization components and a plurality of semi-transparent mirrors and polarization rotators arranged to allow controllable deflection of the first and second polarization components from the beam splitter to a selected one of the light outputs, wherein the one or more different planes defined for at least 15% of the semi-transparent mirrors by the possible paths of the first polarization component passing through the semi-transparent mirror in the arrangement do not coincide with planes defined by the possible paths of the second polarization component passing through any of the semi-transparent mirrors in the arrangement. A controller of the switch is adapted to control the beam rotators in order that the semi-transparent mirrors deflect beams from desired inputs to desired outputs. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090103861 | Beam steering element and associated methods for manifold fiberoptic switches - An optical system comprising two or more optical switches co-packaged together comprising discrete sets of input fiber ports (N per set) and an output fiber port (1 per set), and wherein λn from said set of multiple input fiber ports (N) is focused on λn mirror via the use of shared free space optics, one or more discrete arrays of micro electromechanical system (MEMS) mirrors in a shared array, wherein at least a first array of MEMS mirrors is utilized to select and switch selected wavelengths from the first set of input fiber ports to an output fiber port of the same set, and wherein at least a second array of MEMS mirrors using and sharing the same free space optics as the first MEMS array is utilized to produce another fiber optic switch, thus, enabling one or more N×1, or alternatively one or more 1×N co-packaged optical switching system. | 04-23-2009 |
| 20090110347 | Optical Assembly for Repetitive Coupling and Uncoupling - There is provided an optical assembly ( | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090110348 | Magnetically Activated Photonic Switches And Switch Fabrics Employing The Same - Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to photonic switches and switch fabrics employing the photonic switches. In one embodiment of the present invention, a photonic switch comprises a first waveguide disposed on a surface of a substrate in proximity to an opening in the substrate, and a second waveguide crossing the first waveguide and positioned in proximity to the opening in the substrate. The photonic switch includes a tunable microring resonator disposed on the surface of the substrate adjacent to the first waveguide and the second waveguide and configured with an opening aligned with the opening in the substrate. The photonic switch also includes a wire having a first end and a second end and configured to pass through the opening in the microring and the opening in the substrate. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090185776 | Optical Device - The present invention seeks to realize an optical device that is capable of preventing stray light from entering light input and output means such as optical fibers and that excels in return loss characteristics. The optical device has a free space at least having a wall surface at part thereof, one or more light output means that outputs a light beam toward the free space and one or more light input means that inputs the light beam arriving through the free space. The optical device further includes an antireflective means such as a terminal waveguide provided at either part of the wall surface to prevent unwanted light irradiated to that part of the wall surface from being reflected to the free space. | 07-23-2009 |
| 20090263079 | OPTICAL ROUTERS AND LOGICAL GATES BASED ON THE PROPAGATION OF BRAGG SOLITONS IN NON-UNIFORM ONE-DIMENSIONAL PHOTONIC CRYSTALS - An optical router for all-optical control over the propagation direction of optical pulses, comprising: (i) a non-uniform one-dimensional photonic crystal receiving a plurality of input optical pulses, comprising: at least one first region used to obtain Bragg solitons; at least one second region in which non-linear interaction between two sufficiently adjacent solitons is obtained; and at least one third region used to de-couple resulting after the interaction pulses outside the one-dimensional photonic crystal's grating; and (ii) a plurality of sufficiently temporally separated optical pulses launched towards said one-dimensional photonic crystal from either of its sides, such that the number of pulses de-coupled from at least one of the sides of the grating is different in case when interaction between the pulses occurs inside the grating, from the case when no interaction between pulse occurs inside the grating. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090263080 | STRESS FREE MOUNTING OF OPTICAL BENCH FOR WSS - An optical bench in a wavelength selective switch (WSS) is mounted using a combination of fixed mounts and stress-free mounts. The WSS is packaged in an enclosure including a base, a sidewall, and a lid. The optical switching engine is attached directly to the base. The optical bench is attached to the base and the optical components supported thereon are aligned with the array of switching elements of the switching engine. The optical bench is attached to the base with at plurality of mounts, which include at least one movable mount supporting movement of the optical bench in a plane parallel to the optical bench and at least one fixed mount maintaining optical alignment between the dispersive element and the array of switching elements. | 10-22-2009 |
| 20090269005 | Photonic Systems And Methods For Encoding Data In Carrier Electromagnetic Waves - Various embodiments of the present invention are related to photonic systems and methods that can be used to encode data in carrier electromagnetic waves. In one embodiment of the present invention, a photonic switch comprises: a waveguide configured to guide electromagnetic waves; a number of holes in the waveguide that prevent propagation of the electromagnetic waves beyond the holes; a reservoir located beneath the holes and filled with a liquid having the same refractive index as the photonic crystal; and a device for forcing the liquid into the holes so that the refractive index of the holes matches approximately the refractive index of the waveguide and the electromagnetic waves can propagate within the waveguide beyond the holes. | 10-29-2009 |
| 20090304327 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING OPTICAL DEFLECTION SWITCHING USING COUPLED RESONATORS - A method of implementing optical deflection switching includes directing a tuning operation at a specific region of coupled optical resonators coupled to an input port, a first output port and a second output port, the coupled optical resonator including a plurality of cascaded unit cells; wherein the tuning operation interrupts a resonant coupling between one or more of the unit cells of the coupled resonators so as to cause an input optical signal from the input port to be directed from the first output port to the second output port. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20090304328 | Beam steering element and associated methods for manifold fiberoptic switches and monitoring - An optical system comprising two or more optical switches co-packaged together comprising discrete sets of input fiber ports (N per set) and an output fiber port (1 per set), and wherein λn from said set of multiple input fiber ports (N) is focused on λn mirror via the use of shared free space optics, wherein at least a first array of MEMS mirrors is utilized to select and switch selected wavelengths from the first set of input fiber ports (N) to an output fiber port of the same set, and wherein at least a second array of MEMS mirrors using and sharing the same free space optics is utilized to select individual wavelengths or spectral components from its input fiber ports to send to its output fiber port for optical power or other monitoring purposes, thus, enabling an N×1, or alternatively a 1×N switch capable of internal feedback monitoring. | 12-10-2009 |
| 20100002990 | OPTICAL SIGNALING FOR A PACKAGE-ON-PACKAGE STACK - A package-on-package stack may include an upper package, an optical interface, and a lower package. The upper package may send an optical signal from a first component in the upper package. The optical interface may receive the optical signal from the upper package, and may transmit the optical signal. The lower package may receive the optical signal from the optical interface, and may relay the optical signal to a second component in the lower package or at the motherboard. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100021108 | OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE DEVICE AND OPTICAL COMMUNICATION MODULE - An optical waveguide device and an optical communication module are provided. In the optical waveguide device which includes a core and a cladding layer formed around the core and has one end formed to be inclined so as to refract input and output signals, the core includes therein a diffraction portion for diffracting an optical signal incident through the cladding layer to propagate straight through the core. Thus, it is possible to prevent deterioration of an optical signal coupling ratio in implementing a technique of transmitting optical signals in opposite directions. | 01-28-2010 |
| 20100054659 | OPTICAL CROSSBAR SWITCH - An optical crossbar switch for optically coupling optic fibers comprising: at least one first fiber and a plurality of second fibers; a moveable fiber-end carriage coupled to an end of the at least one first fiber and having at least one latching hook and being constrained to move along a predetermined trajectory; at least one moveable slack-control carriage coupled to the body of the at least one first fiber and constrained to move along a predetermined trajectory; an array of sockets defined by walls, at least one of which walls of each sockets formed having a latch hole for receiving the latching hook; and at least one moving device controllable to move the carriages; wherein to optically couple a first fiber to a second fiber, the at least one moving device moves the fiber-end carriage of at least one of the first and second fibers to a socket and inserts the fiber's fiber end into the socket so that the at least one latching hook latches into the latch hole and secures the carriage to the socket array. | 03-04-2010 |
| 20100061680 | RESETTABLE OPTICAL FUSE - A resettable optical energy switching device comprises a waveguide forming an optical path between an input end and an output end, and an optical energy diverting material located in said optical path for diverting optical energy propagation away from said output end when said optical energy exceeds a predetermined threshold. The optical energy diverting material does not divert optical energy propagation away from the output end when the optical energy propagation drops below the predetermined threshold, and thus propagation of optical energy to the output end is automatically resumed when the optical energy drops below the predetermined threshold. In one implementation, the optical energy diverting material comprises a light-absorbing material having an index of refraction that decreases as light is absorbed by the material. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100067850 | AUTOMATED OPTICAL SWITCH AND METHOD - An automated optical switch for use in a central office to increase coupling density including a frame having a mating plate defining a plurality of precision alignment holes formed therethrough. In one embodiment, the precision alignment holes are sized and configured to receive corresponding pairs of optical fibers with polished end faces disposed within ferrules free of connector housings. In another embodiment, the precision alignment holes are sized and configured to receive optical fibers with polished end faces free of ferrules and connector housings. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100098375 | Optical Patch Panel Device - Various embodiments of patch panel devices are enclosed. In some embodiments, signals received are in an electrical or optical form and converted to the other form. The converted signal is provided as an output signal. A version of the original input may also be provided as an input. A signal injector can inject a optical or electrical signal that is selectively injected into the output signals. Various embodiments also include sensor to detecting the connecting of an electrical or optical line. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100098376 | Optical Patch Panel Device - Various embodiments of patch panel devices are enclosed. In some embodiments, signals received are in an electrical or optical form and converted to the other form. The converted signal is provided as an output signal. A version of the original input may also be provided as an input. A signal injector can inject a optical or electrical signal that is selectively injected into the output signals. Various embodiments also include sensor to detecting the connecting of an electrical or optical line. | 04-22-2010 |
| 20100104241 | METHOD OF ADJUSTING OPTICAL AXIS OF OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE ELEMENT, AND OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE ELEMENT - A method of adjusting the optical axis of an optical waveguide element which can improve a manufacturing yield of the optical waveguide element, an alignment yield between the optical waveguide element and an input waveguide means, etc. and can equalize the branch ratio in a Y-branch waveguide; and an optical waveguide element which can be made compact and also M inhibited from complication in structure by using this method. The optical waveguide element ( | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100104242 | Light activated optical switch that includes a piezoelectric element and a conductive layer - A light activated optical switch includes at least one conductive layer located adjacent to a piezoelectric element to enhance the electrical field that is applied to the piezoelectric element in response to an activation light. The conductive layer has free electrons or electron holes that collect on a surface adjacent to the piezoelectric element when the activation light is applied to the piezoelectric element. The collection of free electrons near the piezoelectric element enhances the electrical field that is applied to the piezoelectric element in response to the activation light. The enhanced electrical field is used to enhance the performance of the piezoelectric clement and ultimately to enhance the performance of the optical switch. | 04-29-2010 |
| 20100111470 | LOW-LOSS LOW-CROSSTALK INTEGRATED DIGITAL OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch includes a plurality of optical interferometric structures is serially connected between at least one optical input node and two optical output nodes. A primary waveguide directly connects an optical input node and a first optical output node. A complementary waveguide, which is directly connected to a second optical output node, is evanescently coupled with the primary waveguide in a pair of optically coupled sections provided in each optical interferometric structure. Each optical interferometric structure also includes a pair of decoupled sections, which includes a primary decoupled section embedding a portion of the primary waveguide and a complementary decoupled section which includes a portion of the complementary waveguide. The complementary decoupled section is embedded in a phase tuning structure that allows modulation of the phase of the optical signal passing through. The optical switch provides less insertion loss, less crosstalk, and wider bandwidth than prior art optical switches. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100119193 | Ultrafast and ultralow threshold single emitter optical switch - Electrical control of the emitter of a coupled quantum emitter-resonant cavity structure is provided. Electrodes are disposed near a semiconductor quantum dot coupled to a semiconductor optical cavity such that varying an applied bias at the electrodes alters an electric field at the quantum dot. Optical input and output ports are coupled to the cavity, and an optical response of the device relates light emitted from the output port to light provided to the input port. Altering the applied bias at the electrodes is capable of altering the optical response. Preferably, the closest electrode to the cavity is disposed between or away from angular lobes of the cavity mode, to reduce loss caused by the proximity of electrode to cavity. The present approach is applicable to both waveguide-coupled devices and non-waveguide devices. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100135612 | Optical switching based on dipole induced transparency - A normally opaque waveguide interacting with a drop-filter cavity can be switched to a transparent state when the drop filter is also coupled to a dipole. This dipole induced transparency may be obtained even when the vacuum Rabi frequency of the dipole is much less than the cavity decay rate. The condition for transparency is a large Purcell factor. Dipole induced transparency can be used in quantum repeaters for long distance quantum communication. | 06-03-2010 |
| 20100142887 | METHOD OF FABRICATING AN OPTICAL SWITCH - Aa method fabricates an optical switch comprising a microsphere coated with silicon nanocrystals. The method includes providing a silica optical fiber. The method further includes melting at least a portion of the fiber to form at least one silica microsphere. The method further includes coating the microsphere with a silica layer. The method further includes precipitating silicon nanocrystals within the silica layer by annealing the microsphere. The method further includes passivating the nanocrystals by annealing the microsphere in a hydrogen-containing atmosphere. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20110064356 | OPTICAL SWITCH - In an optical switch, fibers in a fiber array are arranged in a row. When a region where lights input into or output from the fibers in the fiber array intersect is taken as an intersecting position C, and an axis parallel to the fibers in the fiber array and passing through the intersecting position C is taken as a Z axis, then a distance δ between a core of a desired fiber among the fibers and an optical axis of a corresponding one of the lenses varies depending on a distance S of the desired fiber from the Z axis. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110075967 | Cylindrical Resonators For Optical Signal Routing - A system for routing optical signals includes a waveguide array and a cylindrical resonator lying across the waveguide array, the cylindrical resonator having independently controllable tangential interfaces with each of the waveguides within the waveguide array. A method of selectively routing an optical signal between waveguides includes selecting a optical signal to route; determining the desired path the optical signal; tuning a first controllable interface between a cylindrical resonator and a source waveguide to extract the optical signal from the source waveguide; and tuning a second independently controllable interface between the cylindrical resonator and a destination waveguide to deposit the optical signal into the destination waveguide. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110097036 | OPTICAL SIGNALING FOR A PACKAGE-ON-PACKAGE STACK - A package-on-package stack may include an upper package, an optical interface, and a lower package. The upper package may send an optical signal from a first component in the upper package. The optical interface may receive the optical signal from the upper package, and may transmit the optical signal. The lower package may receive the optical signal from the optical interface, and may relay the optical signal to a second component in the lower package or at the motherboard. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110116739 | MECHANICAL OPTICAL SWITCH - A mechanical fiber optic switch, comprising a base structure, a plurality of first optical fibers mounted on the base structure, arranged such that their ends are adapted to move along respective paths together defining a curved cylinder surface, a plurality of second optical fibers adapted to be optically coupled to selected ones of the first fibers, and a movable control unit adapted to move relative to the base structure and to selectively control movement of the ends of the first optical fibers along their respective paths and to selectively control movement of each of the second optical fibers without moving therewith at least one of the other second fibers. | 05-19-2011 |
| 20110129183 | Plasmon multiplexing - A variety of structures, methods, systems, and configurations can support plasmons for multiplexing. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110150388 | OPTICAL SWITCH USING MACH-ZEHNDER INTERFEROMETER AND OPTICAL SWITCH MATRIX HAVING THE SAME - Provided are an optical switch using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and an optical switch matrix including the same. The optical switch includes a first coupler, an optical delay line, and a second coupler. The first coupler branches an optical signal transmitted to a first or second input waveguide into two optical signals. The optical delay line includes first and second arm waveguides of the same length transmitting the branched optical signal and a heater heating the first arm waveguide. The first and second arm waveguides have one of a full wavelength optical path difference and a half wavelength optical path difference according to whether the heater is turned on. The second coupler branches optical signals outputted from the optical delay line into two optical signals, respectively, and transmits the branched optical signals to the first or second output waveguide. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110170824 | Optical Switch - An optical switch having a housing and optical fibers connectable to a light source and a light detector. The light source and light detector are located remote from the housing. The first and second light guide cables have distal ends positioned in a separator assembly and are optically aligned but separated by a gap. The switch includes a device to modify a light beam, and the device is usually adapted to removably occupy the gap. The switch may be embodied in a float. | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110182545 | WAVELENGTH DOMAIN OPTICAL SWITCH - To provide a waveguide type wavelength domain optical switch which makes it possible to use a cheap lens, makes it possible to correct aberration of the demultiplexed wavelengths produced in a plurality of waveguide type demultiplexing circuits, a wavelength domain optical switch is provided with: an integrated element formed by laminating three or more waveguide type demultiplexing circuits; a first lens for collecting light emitted from the integrated element; a polarization separation element for separating light emitted from the first lens into X polarization and Y polarization and emitting the X polarization and the Y polarization at different angles; a second lens for collecting the X polarization and the Y polarization; a first reflective optical phase modulator for reflecting the collected X polarization and Y polarization at any angles; a ½-wavelength plate disposed between the second lens and the first reflective optical phase modulator in order to make polarization directions of the X polarization and the Y polarization identical; and a second reflective optical phase modulator for inputting light from the first reflective optical phase modulator into one of the waveguide type demultiplexing circuits. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110217000 | OPTICAL SWITCH AND OPTICAL-SWITCH CONTROL METHOD - An optical switch according to the present invention includes a multiple-stage optical-switch unit that includes one input port and a plurality of output ports that are configured by connecting multiple stages of optical switching elements each of which includes three or more optical input-output ports; and a switching control circuit that, when receiving a switching instruction to switch an output destination of light input from the input port, executes at first a first control that changes setting of an optical switching element that is included in part not overlapping with an optical transmission channel reaching an optical output port before switching in an optical transmission channel reaching an optical output port after switching and is positioned at a point other than a branch point from an overlapping part, and then executes a second control that changes setting of an optical switching element that is positioned at the branch point. | 09-08-2011 |
| 20110235966 | HIGH SPEED PIEZOELECTRIC OPTICAL SYSTEM WITH TUNABLE FOCAL LENGTH - A varifocal optical system includes a substantially circular membrane deposited on a substrate, and a ring-shaped PZT thin film deposited on the outer portion of the circular membrane. The membrane may be a MEMS-micromachined membrane, made of thermal oxide, polysilicon, Z | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110243497 | OPTICAL SWITCH, IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE, IMAGE FORMING DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch includes electro-optic crystal, and electrode unit including a plurality of electrodes arranged on the same plane in electro-optic crystal to extend in parallel to one another. A refractive index of a part of electro-optic crystal is changed by an electric field generated at electrode unit, thereby switching transmission and reflection of light incident on electro-optic crystal. Electro-optic crystal has an entrance surface through which light enters and an exit surface from which light exits. Electrode unit is located between the entrance surface and the exit surface. An angle θx formed between a longitudinal direction of electrodes and at least one surface from among the entrance surface and the exit surface is set near an angle that satisfies the expression θx=90°−Sin | 10-06-2011 |
| 20110255826 | OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch is constituted of a wavelength filter and a control device. The wavelength filter includes a first waveguide exhibiting a transmission band of a predetermined basic mode and a second waveguide, arranged in at least one location of the first waveguide, exhibiting a transmission band with a cutoff frequency corresponding to a finite value included in the transmission band of the basic mode. A pair of optical couplers constituting a Mach-Zehnder interferometer is connected to opposite ends of a filter unit including the first waveguide and the second waveguide. When a plurality of wavelength filters is cascaded, these wavelength filters differ from each other in terms of the cutoff frequency of the second waveguide. The control device changes the cutoff frequency of the second waveguide within the transmission band of the first waveguide, thus adjusting the filtering band of the wavelength filter. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110293218 | CONDUCTIVE COATING BASED ON POLYMER-CARBON NANOTUBE COMPOSITE - A conductive polymer and a semiconducting carbon nanotube material are combined to form a highly conductive composite. The composite can be used for EMI shielding, optical sensing, optical switching, and other uses. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20120014642 | Transparent Optical Switch - An optical switching device realized on a substrate. The device includes a moveable platform driven by electrostatic actuation provided by a set of rotor fingers and stator fingers. The moveable platform, rotor fingers and stator fingers are integrally formed on the substrate. The device further includes a plurality of stationary input polymeric waveguides as well as a plurality of stationary output polymeric waveguides integrally formed on the substrate. At least one polymeric waveguide is integrally formed on the moveable platform. The polymeric waveguide of the moveable platform is operably coupled to a select one of the stationary input polymeric waveguides and a select one of the stationary output polymeric waveguides in different positions of the moveable platform as driven by electrostatic actuation provided by the rotor fingers and stator fingers. The stationary input polymeric waveguides, the stationary output polymeric waveguides and the polymeric waveguide formed on the movable platform are each defined by a multilayer polymer sandwich for guiding light propagating therein. The rotor fingers and stator fingers comprise a patterned conductive material. This same conductive material is disposed under the multilayer polymer sandwich of the polymer waveguide formed on the moveable platform over its entire length. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120070114 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR COLORLESS OPTICAL SWITCHING - The present invention discloses a device and a method for colorless optical switching, where the device includes: a demultiplexer, configured to demultiplex the input multi-wavelength light into multiple beams of light with single wavelength; a first optical cross unit, configured to output the received multiple beams of light with single wavelength through target ports to an optical switch array; the optical switch array, configured to drop the light that needs to be dropped from multiple beams of light with single wavelength, receive the light added by the local node, and output the light that needs to pass in the multiple beams of light with single wavelength and the light added by the local node; and a combiner, configured to combine the light output by the optical switch array. The optical switch device and method provided in the embodiments of the present invention feature colorlessness, low insertion loss, and low costs. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120093458 | OPTICAL SWITCH - A light-shielding portion ( | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120114282 | WHOLE FIBER SWITCHED P-CYCLES - A communication network in which p-cycles are used to rapidly, simply and efficiently provide for the direct replacement of failed fiber sections with whole replacement fibers. As long as the loss budgets are adequate, entire DWDM wavebands can be restored with no switching or manipulation of individual lightpaths. Following a substitution transient, the DWDM layer would never know the break happened. In environments where fiber switching devices are low cost, and ducts are full of dark fiber, this could provide a very low cost alternative to protect an entire DWDM transport layer (or working capacity envelope) against the single largest cause of outage. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120121219 | OPTICAL-SWITCH DRIVER CIRCUIT, OPTICAL SWITCH, AND OPTICAL CHANGEOVER SWITCH - An optical-switch driver circuit includes a pulse signal source and a voltage-applying circuit. The pulse signal source generates pulse waves that rise from a first voltage to a second voltage. The voltage-applying circuit, for one of the pulse waves, outputs a voltage higher than the third voltage, then outputs a voltage lower than the third voltage, and further outputs the third voltage. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120128293 | Optical Patch Panel Device - Various embodiments of patch panel devices are enclosed. In some embodiments, signals received are in an electrical or optical form and converted to the other form. The converted signal is provided as an output signal. A version of the original input may also be provided as an input. A signal injector can inject a optical or electrical signal that is selectively injected into the output signals. Various embodiments also include sensor to detecting the connecting of an electrical or optical line. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120128294 | Optical Beam Switch - An optical beam switch includes at least one input optical wave guide, multiple output optical wave guides and an optical switching element for selectively switching a light beam guided in the at least one input optical wave guide to one of the output optical wave guides, in which the switching element is between the at least one input optical waveguide and the multiple output optical waveguides. The optical switching element includes a beam propagation element and an optical focusing system, where the beam propagation element has two mutually opposed end faces and where either the beam propagation element or the optical focusing system can be deflected and/or twisted transversely to an optical axis. The at least one input optical wave guide is attached to a first end face of the beam propagation element, and the output optical wave guides are attached to a second end face. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120141065 | OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE COLLIMATOR AND OPTICAL SWITCHING DEVICE - An optical waveguide collimator includes: an optical waveguide base material which includes a light emitting face having a light emitting end face of an optical waveguide, and an adhering area face provided separated from the light emitting face; a collimator lens arranged on a light emitting end face side of the optical waveguide; and a lens holding member which holds the collimator lens and which is adhered and fixed to the adhering area face of the optical waveguide base material. | 06-07-2012 |
| 20120195547 | ALL-OPTICAL PHASE SHIFTER IN SILICON - A device includes a semiconductor waveguide and a control signal waveguide formed along a planar surface of a substrate. The control signal waveguide includes a segment located along and proximate a segment of the semiconductor waveguide. The control signal waveguide is configured to photo-excite charge carriers in said semiconductor waveguide. | 08-02-2012 |
| 20120201494 | OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch includes a first connector holding an end of at least one optical fiber and a second connector holding respective ends of at least two optical fibers. The optical switch further includes a sliding mechanism faces a connecting surface of the first connector and a connecting surface of the second connector each other, to optically connect between the at least one optical fiber held in the first connector and one of the at least two optical fibers held in the second connector, and slides the connecting surface of the first connector and the connecting surface of the second connector relative to each other with keeping a facing state, and a spacer mechanism for preventing the respective end faces of the facing optical fibers held in the first and second connectors from contacting each other, or from contacting the connecting surfaces of the first and second connectors, respectively. | 08-09-2012 |
| 20120213471 | MICRORESONATOR OPTICAL SWITCH HAVING NANOPARTICLES AND METHOD OF OPTICAL SWITCHING - An optical switch includes a microresonator comprising a plurality of silicon nanoparticles within a silicon-rich silicon oxide layer. The microresonator further includes an optical coupler optically coupled to the microresonator and configured to be optically coupled to a pump source and to a signal source. A method of optical switching includes providing an optical switch comprising an optical coupler and a microresonator having a plurality of nanoparticles and receiving an optical pulse by the optical switch, wherein at least a portion of the optical pulse is absorbed by the nanoparticles such that at least a portion of the microresonator undergoes an elevation of temperature and a corresponding refractive index change when the optical pulse has an optical power greater than a predetermined threshold level. | 08-23-2012 |
| 20120219252 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SWITCHING OPTICAL CHANNELS - An optical switching system is disclosed. The system comprises: input optics, for receiving light from at least one input optical port and separating the light into a plurality of optical channels to assign a separate optical path to each channel of each input optical port. The system further comprises an input steering array and an output steering array arranged such that the input steering array is imaged onto the output steering array, wherein the input steering array is configured to receive the separated light and steer each optical channel to an individual element of the output steering array. The system further comprises output optics, for receiving the optical channels from the output steering array and coupling the optical channels into at least one output optical port. | 08-30-2012 |
| 20120269481 | OPTOFLUIDIC APPARATUS, METHOD, AND APPLICATION - A reconfigurable optofluidic apparatus includes a microfluidic chip including a microfluidic channel further including an inlet for a liquid core waveguide fluid; a channel pathway for the liquid core waveguide fluid; a plurality of non-core waveguide fluid inlets; a switching chamber having a larger cross sectional area than the channel pathway; and an outlet for the liquid core waveguide fluid and non-core waveguide fluid, further including a plurality of non-liquid core waveguides disposed in the switching chamber. Light input to the apparatus propagates in the liquid core/liquid cladding (liquid) waveguide. The path of the liquid waveguide can be steered in a region of the apparatus over one of the non-liquid core waveguides such that the light is end-fire- or evanescently-coupled into the non-liquid core waveguide and output therefrom or between two of the non-liquid core waveguides and not coupled or output. Associated optofluidic switching methods are disclosed. | 10-25-2012 |
| 20120275743 | METHOD DEVICE ASSEMBLY AND SYSTEM FOR FACILITATING THE INTERCONNECTION OF COMMUNICATION BEARING CABLES - Disclosed is a method device assembly and system for facilitating the interconnection of communication bearing cables connected cable connectors. An interconnect-point support structure comprising two or more cable connector slots, wherein in each of the two or more slots is adapted to host a cable connector attached to a respective cable. A mechanical arm functionally associated with the interconnect-point support structure is adapted to release a cable connector, mobilize and mate it to another connector. | 11-01-2012 |
| 20120308178 | OPTICAL PATH SWITCHING DEVICE - An optical path switching device comprises at least one movable carrier plate; at least two optical fiber connection sockets arranged on the movable carrier plate and each connected with an optical fiber; and a driving device mechanical coupled to the movable carrier plate, driving the movable carrier plate to carry one of the optical fiber connection sockets to a position corresponding to an optical fiber connection plug, whereby the optical fiber connection plug can be coupled to the optical fiber connection socket connecting with an intended optical path. The present invention switches the optical path in a purely-mechanical way without using any optical component. The present invention has advantages of simple structure, low cost and low signal loss. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120308179 | Method and Apparatus for Colorless Add - An apparatus comprising a plurality of switches coupled to a plurality of corresponding colorless laser transmitters, an odd channel coupler coupled to each of the switches, an even channel coupler coupled to each of the switches, and an interleaver coupled to the odd channel coupler and the even channel coupler. Also disclosed is an apparatus comprising a coupler coupled to a plurality of colorless laser transmitters, a first interleaver coupled to the coupler, and a second interleaver coupled to the first interleaver. Also disclosed is an apparatus comprising an odd channel coupler coupled to a plurality of first laser transmitters, an even channel coupler coupled to a plurality of second laser transmitters, and an interleaver coupled to the odd channel coupler and the even channel coupler. | 12-06-2012 |
| 20120328238 | OPTICAL DEVICE - An optical device which reduces coupling loss while improving practicality is provided. A multi-core fiber coupling device is an optical device which couples a multi-core fiber to single core fibers, and includes a first optical system which is located on optical axes of a plurality of beams emitted from the multi-core fiber, and which makes the optical axes of the respective beams non-parallel to each other, thereby making the beams in a state of being separated from each other, and a second optical system S | 12-27-2012 |
| 20130004121 | COMMUNICATION MEDIA MULTI-SWITCH SYSTEM - Exemplary systems and methods for testing communication media and devices are disclosed herein. An exemplary system may include a transmitting media support and a receiving media support, each including a plurality of communication media. The system may further include a movement support configured to selectively translate the receiving media support relative to the transmitting media support between a transmission position and a free position. In the transmission position, a receiving media may be engaged with the transmitting media to receive an initiated signal from the transmitting media. In the free position, a first end face of the receiving media may be spaced apart from a second end face of the transmitting media, thereby preventing contact between the first and second end faces. The movement support may be further configured to align the at least one of the receiving media with the transmitting media. | 01-03-2013 |
| 20130016945 | METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DEPLOY FIBER OPTIC BASED ACCESS NETWORKS - Methods and apparatus to deploy fiber optic based access networks are disclosed. An example access network comprises a first fiber optic cable segment to couple an optical access head-end to a first pedestal and to transport user data, a second fiber optic cable segment to couple the first pedestal to a second pedestal and to transport a first portion of the user data to the second pedestal, a drop cable segment to couple the first pedestal to a customer premises and to transport a second portion of the user data to the customer premises, and a switch at the first pedestal to route the first portion of the user data between the first and second fiber optic cable segments and to route the second portion of the user data between the first fiber optic cable segment and the drop cable segment. | 01-17-2013 |
| 20130058607 | OPTICAL INTERCONNECT FABRICS AND OPTICAL SWITCHES - Optical interconnect fabrics and optical switches are disclosed. In one aspect, an optical interconnect fabric comprises one or more bundles of optical broadcast buses. Each optical broadcast bus is optically coupled at one end to a node and configured to transmit optical signals generated by the node. The optical fabric also includes a number of optical tap arrays distributed along each bundle of optical broadcast buses. Each optical tap array is configured to divert a portion of the optical power associated with the optical signals carried by a bundle of optical broadcast buses to one of the nodes. | 03-07-2013 |
| 20130077914 | Optical LC Normal Through Adapter - An optical switching apparatus comprising a housing with first and second optical ports on the housing for receiving optical connectors, wherein the first and second optical ports are optically connected in a first state. A third and fourth optical port for receiving optical connectors are provided in the housing for which are optically connected in a first state. An optical switch within the housing optically connects the first optical port to the third optical port and optically connects that the second optical port to the fourth optical port in a second state, wherein the optical switch is mechanically actuated due to insertion of an optical connector in at least one of the first and second optical ports. A sliding cam against a ball bearing accurately re-aligns two fiber optic arrays to switch from a first state to a second state. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130077915 | Optical Switch - An optical switch having a housing and optical fibers connectable to a light source and a light detector. The light source and light detector are located remote from the housing. The first and second light guide cables have distal ends positioned in a separator assembly and are optically aligned but separated by a gap. The switch includes a device to modify a light beam, and the device is usually adapted to removably occupy the gap. The switch may be embodied in a float. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20130094803 | OPTICAL PATH SWITCH AND OPTICAL ROUTER - An optical path switch and an optical router are provided. The optical path switch comprises an input optical path ( | 04-18-2013 |
| 20130108213 | SILICON OPTICAL SWITCH DEVICES | 05-02-2013 |
| 20130136394 | OPTICAL SWITCH ASSEMBLY FOR DETECTING MOVEMENT - An optical switch assembly includes a first member, a second member movably secured to the first member, and first and second optical cable connectors attached to the first member. The second member is movable between first and second positions relative to the first member. The optical switch assembly also includes an optical cable having opposite first and second ends. The optical cable first end is in optical communication with the first optical cable connector and the optical cable second end is attached to the second member. Movement of the second member to the second position causes the optical cable second end to be in optical communication with the second optical cable connector such that an optical path is established between the first and second optical cable connectors. The establishment of an optical path allows the optical cable to pass an optical signal back to a monitoring station. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20130163921 | WAVELENGTH SELECTIVE SWITCH - Provided is a wavelength selective switch, which includes: an input/output unit; a dispersive portion; a condensing optical system; and the deflection portion. The input/output unit has input/output ports. The dispersive portion disperses signal light incident from the input/output ports. The condensing optical system condenses a plurality of signal light beams dispersed by the dispersive portion. The deflection portion has a plurality of deflection elements. The deflection elements deflect, along a second direction, the signal light beams condensed by the condensing optical system. In the condensing optical system, the aberration amount of the meridional component in a sagittal coma aberration remains substantially constant irrespective of an angle formed between the optical axis of the condensing optical system and a signal light beam incident on the condensing optical system from the input/output portion, at an incident position of the incident signal light beam at a certain height in the second direction. | 06-27-2013 |
| 20130202251 | OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch ( | 08-08-2013 |
| 20130223791 | WAVELENGTH-SELECTIVE PATH-SWITCHING ELEMENT - A wavelength-selective path-switching element has a silicon substrate on which a pattern of optical waveguides including a first optical waveguide, a second optical waveguide and an intermediary optical waveguide is formed. The widths W | 08-29-2013 |
| 20130266256 | OPTICAL SWITCH - Aspects of the disclosure include an optical button, that can include an input portion that is printed on a substrate, the input portion being configured to change an optical characteristic of light passing therethrough when in contact with an external object, and a detector that is optically coupled with the input portion to detect a change in the optical characteristic of light passing through the input portion. | 10-10-2013 |
| 20130266257 | OPTICAL WAVEGUIDE SWITCH - Techniques are described to form an optical waveguide switch that could reach a very high extinction ratio. In particular, this disclosure describes an asymmetric MZI, in which different waveguide capacitor structures are used in two arms of the MZI: a first arm with a waveguide capacitor to achieve the mainly phase modulation and a second arm with a waveguide capacitor to achieve mainly the magnitude modulation, respectively. Using the asymmetric MZI in accordance with this disclosure, one can design an algorithm to achieve almost unlimited extinction ration during the switching operation. | 10-10-2013 |
| 20130301983 | Dynamic Terahertz Switching Device Comprising Sub-wavelength Corrugated Waveguides and Cavity that Utilizes Resonance and Absorption for Attaining On and Off states - A terahertz (THz) switch consisting of perfect conductor metamaterials is discussed in this invention. Specifically, we have built a THz logic block by combining two double-sided corrugated waveguides capable of slowing down the electromagnetic waves in the THz regime with a sub-wavelength cavity, having one or more grooves with shorter height than the grooves of the periodic corrugated waveguide. This new type of THz structure is called as the waveguide-cavity-waveguide (WCW). The new invention is based on our mathematical modeling and experimentation that confirms a strong electromagnetic field accumulation inside the tiny cavity which can confine EM field for a long time within a very small effective volume (V | 11-14-2013 |
| 20140133800 | OPTICAL SWITCH CONTROL METHOD, OPTICAL SWITCH CONTROL DEVICE, AND OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM - An optical switch control device includes a driving control unit ( | 05-15-2014 |
| 20140153868 | Optical Bus System - Systems are provided having, for example, at least first and second processing units, an optical bus system coupled to the at least first and second processing units, and an optical bus controller coupled to the optical bus system. The optical bus system includes a plurality of optical switches and each optical switch includes, for example, at least a first switch state for directing light in at least a first direction and a second switch state for directing light in at least a second direction. Methods for optical bus communication are also provided. | 06-05-2014 |
| 20140169732 | High Density Optical Fiber Switch Module - A high density optical fiber switch module comprises a box body whose front end is provided with several optical fiber adapters, the top surface or bottom surface of the optical fiber adapter is provided with a first positioning groove which extending along the direction perpendicular to a direction in which the optical fiber plug is inserted into the optical fiber adapter, and a first positioning protrusion matching with the first positioning groove is arranged on the inner surface of the box body so that when the first positioning protrusion is latched within the first positioning groove, the optical fiber adapter is fixed to the front end of the box body. | 06-19-2014 |
| 20140178000 | POWER-EFFICIENT OPTICAL BUFFERING USING OPTICAL SWITCH - The present invention generally relates to optical circuits for mitigating power loss in medical imaging systems and methods for using such circuits. Circuits of the invention can involve a first optical path, a second optical path, and a means for recombining an optical signal transmitted through the first and second optical paths by sequentially gating the first and second optical paths to a single output. | 06-26-2014 |
| 20140233884 | METHOD OF OPTICAL SELF-SWITCHING USING MICRORESONATOR OPTICAL SWITCH HAVING NANOPARTICLES - An optical switch includes a microresonator comprising a plurality of silicon nanoparticles within a silicon-rich silicon oxide layer. The microresonator further includes an optical coupler optically coupled to the microresonator and configured to be optically coupled to a signal source. A method of optical switching includes providing an optical switch comprising an optical coupler and a microresonator having a plurality of nanoparticles and receiving an optical pulse by the optical switch, wherein at least a portion of the optical pulse is absorbed by the nanoparticles such that at least a portion of the microresonator undergoes an elevation of temperature and a corresponding refractive index change when the optical pulse has an optical power greater than a predetermined threshold level. | 08-21-2014 |
| 20140270634 | MULTI- PURPOSE APPARATUS FOR SWITCHING, AMPLIFYING, REPLICATING, AND MONITORING OPTICAL SIGNALS ON A MULTIPLICITY OF OPTICAL FIBERS - Several useful functions that are included in many modern day fiber optical communication systems are (1) replication of an optical signal on a single optical fiber onto a multiplicity of optical fibers, (2) amplification of optical signals, and (3) sequential switching of optical signals on a large number of optical fibers to a single or limited number of optical fibers that can each be connected to specialized performance monitoring equipment. These functions can be accomplished using a single apparatus called a multi-purpose Switched, Amplifying, Replicating and Monitoring apparatus that can manage as few as 8 optical fibers up to 512 optical fibers, or more by multiplexing. | 09-18-2014 |
| 20140348464 | WAVELENGTH SELECTIVE SWITCH, VARIABLE DISPERSION COMPENSATOR, OPTICAL TRANSMISSION APPARATUS, AND OPTICAL TRANSMISSION SYSTEM - A wavelength selective switch is configured to demultiplex WDM light input from an input side for each wavelength, to supply the demultiplexed signal lights to deflectors corresponding to the demultiplexed wavelength, and to control the deflector to selectively output the demultiplexed signal lights to an output side, in which monitor light having at least a wavelength included in the WDM light is input to the wavelength selective switch from the output side of the wavelength selective switch, and the monitor light input from the output side of the wavelength selective switch is monitored, the monitor light being propagated in a direction opposite to a propagation direction of the signal lights each having the demultiplexed wavelength in the wavelength selective switch and being output to the input side of the wavelength selective switch. | 11-27-2014 |
| 20140363123 | HIGH VOLTAGE PHOTOCONDUCTIVE SWITCH PACKAGE - A photoconductive switch having a wide bandgap material substrate between opposing electrodes, and a doped dielectric filler that is in contact with both the electrodes and the substrate at the triple point. The dielectric filler material is doped with a conductive material to make it partially or completely conducting, to minimize the field enhancement near the triple point both when the substrate is not conducting in the “off” state and when the substrate is rendered conducting by radiation in the “on” state. | 12-11-2014 |
| 20140363124 | Optical Redundancy - A high density, low power, high performance information system, method and apparatus are described in which an integrated circuit apparatus includes a first integrated circuit link element ( | 12-11-2014 |
| 20140369647 | MICROFLUIDIC OPTICAL SWITCHING DEVICE AND METHOD - Improved systems and methods for optical switching are provided. These devices and methods can be used to improve the effectiveness of a wide variety of different optical systems and techniques. One embodiment provides a device and method for optical switching using a microfluidic chamber and droplets of liquid. Specifically, the droplets of liquid are controllably passed through the microfluidic chamber to switch the passing of light between different optical outputs. Thus, the optical switch can switch the light from one output to another by controllably passing droplets of liquid through the microfluidic chamber. | 12-18-2014 |
| 20150023633 | SELF-SWITCHING MICRORESONATOR OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch includes a microresonator comprising a silicon-rich silicon oxide layer and a plurality of silicon nanoparticles within the silicon-rich silicon oxide layer. The microresonator further includes an optical coupler optically coupled to the microresonator and configured to be optically coupled to a signal source. The microresonator is configured to receive signal light having a signal wavelength, and at least a portion of the microresonator is responsive to the signal light by undergoing a refractive index change at the signal wavelength. The optical switch further includes an optical coupler optically coupled to the microresonator and configured to be optically coupled to a signal source. The optical coupler transmits the signal light from the signal source to the microresonator. | 01-22-2015 |
| 20150125112 | OPTICAL SWITCH FABRIC FOR DATA CENTER INTERCONNECTIONS - An optical switch fabric includes horizontal optical waveguides including a first set and a second set, the first set is configured to receive a first plurality of wavelengths from the one or more external switches and the second set is configured to send a second plurality of wavelengths to the one or more external switches; wavelength-selective drop optical switches associated with the first set, wherein the wavelength-selective drop optical switches are each configured to drop a selected wavelength from a horizontal optical waveguide of the first set to an associated vertical optical waveguide of vertical optical waveguides; and controllable optical switches associated with the vertical optical waveguides, wherein the controllable optical switches are each configured to direct a selected wavelength from a vertical optical waveguide to a horizontal optical waveguide of the second set. | 05-07-2015 |
| 20150147026 | Apparatus and Method for Differential Thermal Optical Switch Control - Embodiments are provided for an apparatus and method for differential thermal optical switch control. The optical switch is operated based on the interferometric principle by modifying the optical phase between waves propagating in waveguides via refractive index change in the waveguides using the thermo-optic effect. A heat pump designed as part of the optical switch is used to generate a temperature difference across the waveguides based on the thermo-electric effect. The thermo-electric effect is obtained using thermo-electric material or elements, also referred to as Peltier elements. An embodiment apparatus includes a dielectric base, a pair of waveguides extended in parallel on the dielectric base, and on the dielectric base a thermo-electric material in contact with the pair of waveguides. Additionally, a pair of electrodes extended, on the thermo-electric material, next to and along the length of the waveguides. | 05-28-2015 |
| 20150293308 | RECONFIGURABLE DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL SWITCH - Optical switch based on a micro-mirror device such as a DMD for simultaneous switching light from N inputs to M outputs with switching times of about 10 microseconds, where N and M are generally greater than one. The mirrors of the device are oriented according to a pattern calculated based on a Fourier Transform of spatial distribution of M outputs such as to form, in diffraction of light incident on the device, an diffraction light pattern that in the output plane is substantially congruent with the spatial distribution of M outputs. The device can be configured as a modulator of amplitude and/or a modulator of phase of incident light wavefront. | 10-15-2015 |
| 20150362676 | LASER SYSTEM WITH DOPED FIBER COMPONENTS - A laser amplifier includes a pump source and an optically active fiber having an input portion configured to receive a signal source and an output portion. The pump source is optically coupled to the optically active fiber. The laser amplifier also includes an output fiber optically coupled to the output portion of the optically active fiber. The output fiber includes a rare-earth element. The laser amplifier further includes a beam expansion section joined to the output fiber. | 12-17-2015 |
| 20160109669 | OPTOMECHANICAL ASSEMBLY - A dual enclosure including an inner housing inside an outer housing is provided for an optical bench supporting a plurality of optical elements. An air gap is provided between the inner and outer housings. The inner housing may act as a heat spreader for isothermal operation, and the outer housing may act as a heat insulator. The optical bench may be disposed within the inner housing on a supporting element or elements, which thermally and mechanically decouple the optical bench from the inner housing. | 04-21-2016 |
| 20190146158 | WAVEGUIDE SWITCH | 05-16-2019 |
| 20190149897 | WIDE PASSBAND WAVELENGTH SELECTIVE SWITCH | 05-16-2019 |
