Ladder-structured photonic variable delay device
US5796510A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 7, 1997 |
| Grant date | Aug 18, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 7, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F2201/20
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An ladder-structured variable delay device for providing variable true time delay to multiple optical beams simultaneously. The device comprises multiple basic units stacked on top of each other resembling a ladder. Each basic unit comprises a polarization sensitive corner reflector formed by two polarization beamsplitters and a polarization rotator array placed parallel to the hypotenuse of the corner reflector. Controlling an array element of the polarization rotator array causes an optical beam passing through the array element to either go up to a basic unit above it or reflect back towards output. The beams going higher on the "ladder" experience longer optical path delay. Finally, the ladder-structured variable device can be cascaded with another multi-channel delay device to form a new device which combines the advantages of the two individual devices. This programmable optic device has the properties of high packing density, low loss, easy fabrication, and virtually infinite bandwidth. In addition, the delay is reversible so that the same delay device can be used for both antenna transmitting and receiving.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.