Patent · US Expired

Optical switch

US4715680A · kind A · utility

17Cited by
1References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 5, 1984
Grant dateDec 29, 1987
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 5, 2004

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02F1/0553
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An optical switch usable for an optical circuit adapted to be operated by utilizing the electro-optical effect inherent therein. A pair of electrodes are arranged in spaced relation on an optical wave guide which is branched to branch optical wave guides and transmission of light beams is controlled by applying a certain voltage to the electrodes. Both the optical wave guide and the branch optical wave guides are made of electro-optical material. Specifically, the optical wave guides are constituted by a layer of PLZT ((Pb, La) (Zr, Ti) O.sub.3) based thin film which is formed by epitaxial growth on a base plate located on the C-plane of sapphire (.alpha.-alumina). The switch is effective for controlling the transmission of light beams.

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