Process for fabrication and independent tuning of multiple integrated optical directional couplers on a single substrate
US5982964A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 30, 1997 |
| Grant date | Nov 9, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 30, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/1342
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A method of fabricating an optical device incorporates two different techniques for formation of different structures of the device on the same substrate. Individual processes such as Titanium indiffusion and annealed proton exchange in LiNbO.sub.3 require significantly different temperature ranges for comparable waveguide formation. The present method combines these processes and allows for temperature tuning of the optical parameters of passive and active components, for instance coupling lengths of directional couplers, associated with one section of the device without altering the optical parameters of similar components in the other sections. The process improves yield for devices which employ more than one precisely fabricated optical directional coupler by creating an extra degree of process freedom.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.