Micromechanical light steering optical switch
US6268952A · kind A · utility
95Cited by
8References
27Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jul 14, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jul 31, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 14, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/356
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical switch uses a micromachined adjustable phase hologram device to route optical signals from an input fiber to selected output fibers is described. The adjustable phase hologram includes a large number of micromachined reflective ribbons which can be individually controlled and adjusted to produce a wide range of phase profiles to route the light beams from the input fiber. This optical switch is capable of dealing directly with optical signals, has fast switching speeds, is capable of routing WDM input signals, is polarization independent, is scalable to large switches, and avoids the complexity of other switches.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.