Patent · US Expired

Optical fiber power taps

US3982123A · kind A · utility

52Cited by

6References

6Claims

0Family size

Assignee

Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. · US

Inventors

James E. Goell · Roanoke, US
Tingye Li · Rumson, US
Willis Martin Muska · Little Silver, US

Key dates

Filing date	Nov 11, 1974
Grant date	Sep 21, 1976
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Nov 11, 1994

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG02B6/4289
WIPO fieldOptics
WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

There is disclosed a variety of arrangements for tapping a portion of the signal power from an optical fiber waveguide without requiring that the fiber be terminated or broken. Power is coupled out of the fiber waveguide, which typically includes an inner core surrounded by a lower refractive index outer cladding, by disposing a dielectric body in a coupling relationship with an intermediate length of the fiber from which all or most of the cladding has been removed or, alternatively, which is bent to cause a portion of the power to radiate out of the inner core into the outer cladding of the fiber. The dielectric body couples power out of the fiber provided its index of refraction is approximately equal to, or greater than, that of the fiber cladding material. The power coupled out by the dielectric body is converted to a representative electrical signal by a photodetector disposed adjacent to the dielectric body.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.