Interferometer and method of designing an interferometer
US10641954B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 24, 2017 |
| Grant date | May 5, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 24, 2037 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04B10/70
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A universal interferometer (100) for coupling modes of electromagnetic radiation according to a transformation has N inputs and N outputs for inputting and outputting N modes of electromagnetic radiation into and from the interferometer. Waveguides (101, 102, 103, 104, 105) pass through the interferometer to connect the N inputs to the N outputs and to carry the N modes of electromagnetic radiation. The waveguides provide crossing points between pairs of waveguides and a reconfigurable beam splitter (107) implements a reconfigurable reflectivity and a reconfigurable phase shift at each crossing point. The waveguides and crossing points are arranged such that each of the N modes of electromagnetic radiation is capable of coupling with each of the other modes of electromagnetic radiation at respective reconfigurable beam splitters. The couplings between modes at the reconfigurable beam splitters are configured such that the interferometer implements a transformation of the N modes between the N inputs and the N outputs.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.