Optical MEMS switch with converging beams
US6757458B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 29, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jun 29, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 27, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/3556
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The beams between a MEMS device and an input source or an output, e.g., a fiber bundle, are caused to be closer to each other at the MEMS device than at the fiber bundle. This can be achieved in a variety ways. This may be achieved a) when each fiber is associated with a respective micro lens of a micro lens array, by insuring that there is a different distance between the centers of adjacent micro lenses than there is for the centers of their corresponding adjacent fibers, b) when the fibers are terminated by collimators, the direction of the collimators is adjusted to point the beams in a converging manner and c) by employing an optical system that changes the direction of various ones of the beams may be interposed between a) the fiber bundle and b) the corresponding MEMS device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.