Integrated optical isolator array
US7263247B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 11, 2002 |
| Grant date | Aug 28, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 2, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B6/4249
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An integrated isolator array is provided having a plurality of waveguides fabricated in a planar optical substrate, each waveguide having input and output sections. An isolator subassembly is received within a transverse trench formed in the substrate between the input and output sections such that it intersects the optical paths of the waveguides. The isolator subassembly, which may consist of layers of Faraday rotator material sandwiched between layers of birefringent crystal material, permits the forward passage of light from the input sections to the output sections of the waveguides while preventing the backward passage of light from the output to the input sections. Each waveguide input section is preferably adapted with a mode-expanding input taper to collimate light propagating through the waveguide. Similarly, each output section is preferably adapted with a mode-reducing output taper to reduce the mode size of forward-traveling light to match that of an output fiber, as well as to collimate light traveling backward within the output section.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.