Corning Incorporated

Alain M Beguin

Felice Scotta

Philippe Lehuede

Christian Lerminiaux

Bertrand Paris

Pascale Laborde

Jean-Claude Presotto

Patrice Camy

Phosphate free, Er/Yb co-doped borosilicate glass compositions and optical devices made from said compositions are disclosed; said compositions comprising, for 100 parts by weight of: 60 to 70 parts by weight SiO or SiO &plus;GeO with SiO always being greater than 40 parts by weight, 8 to 12 parts by weight of B O , 10 to 25 parts by weight M O wherein M O is an alkali metal oxide, 0 to 3 parts by weight of BaO, 0.1 to 5 parts by weight Er O , and from 0.1 to 12 parts by weight of Yb O and from 0 to less than 5 parts by weight F; and within which, the boron atoms are of tetrahedral spatial coordination.

Glass composition and optical device made therefrom

A fusion joint between a waveguide ( ) and an optical fiber (2) is created by irradiating the interface ( ) between the optical fiber and the waveguide using a laser beam. The spatial distribution of the energy furnished to the interface presents a central zone of which the energy is reduced with respect to a peripheral zone, whereby to enable a relatively high energy laser to be used while avoiding bending of the waveguide. The laser beam is caused to irradiate a higher energy density upon the waveguide than the optical fiber, typically by offsetting the center of the laser beam towards the waveguide. The fusion is performed while a force F urges the waveguide and optical fiber towards one another, so as to avoid the creation of a void at the boundary. A supplementary polymer or mineral joint can be provided. A method for multi-fiber fusion pigtailing more than a single optical fiber to respective waveguiding regions in a planar waveguide includes using a diffractive optical element ( ) to produce a multiple energy distribution.

Method for connecting optical fiber and optical waveguide

A method of forming a layer of silicon on a surface comprises the steps of depositing silicon on the surface by a physical deposition process such as electron beam evaporation and, during said deposition process, subjecting the forming film to ionic bombardment. The resultant silicon film has stresses which are considerably reduced compared to a film produced by an ordinary physical deposition process. This method is particularly well adapted to the formation of relatively thick silicon layers (.gtoreq.1 .mu.m) on a layer (or stack of layers) of silica, to serve as an etching mask in a subsequent deep etching of the silica by reactive ion etching.

Method for making an optical waveguide component using a low-stress

A package for a temperature sensitive optical component (20) includes inner (14) and outer (12) containers of low thermal conductivity plastics material, a foam insulation (18) being situated between the two containers. Within the inner container (14) are a thermally conductive plate to which the component (20), a temperature sensitive resistor, and a resistive heating element are affixed. A temperature compensating circuit (16) is located outside the inner container. The temperature sensitive resistor is part of a Wheatstone bridge at the input of the circuit (16), whereby the circuit compensates for variations in operating voltage. The output transistor of the circuit regulates the current through the resistive heating element in response to variations in the resistance of the temperature sensitive resistor. This transistor extends into the inner container (14) and is in contact with the thermally conductive plate, whereby heat from the transistor is dissipated into the plate. This maintains the temperature of the transistor substantially constant.

Package for a temperature-sensitive optical component with inner and

Optical waveguide paths are formed under the surface of a glass substrate by a method comprising (a) forming by ion-exchange a dopant ion path on a first substrate surface, (b) applying an electrode to the second surface, (c) contacting the first surface with a molten salt bath, and (d) applying an electrical field across the substrate to drive the dopant ions deeper into the substrate. The current resulting from high fields can overheat the substrate, thereby causing substrate warping and burying of paths to uneven depths. One aspect of the invention involves cooling the substrate by flowing the molten salt along the first surface of the substrate at a sufficient rate of flow to adequately decrease its temperature and by rapidly flowing the furnace atmosphere over the surface of the substrate. A further aspect of the invention involves initially applying a voltage V.sub.i across the substrate, allowing the current to increase to a predetermined level I.sub.m, and maintaining the flow of current at the predetermined level I.sub.m by decreasing the applied voltage at a rate necessarry to maintain the current at level I.sub.m. The electrical field remains for a predetermined period of time to bury the ion path a predetermined depth.

Method of burying optical waveguide paths

A process for the production of an integrated optical circuit in a glass body by ion exchange between certain regions of the glass body and a metallic salt with the use of a mask defining the regions where the ion exchange occurs, wherein the mask comprises a layer of silicon and the mask is removed by an etching operation preceded by a cleansing operation.

Process for manufacturing integrated optical components using silicon

A method of making an integrated optical component in which a central planar region includes an optical circuit path and a lateral region includes an optical fiber positioning groove in alignment with the path. A glass body having central and lateral regions is coated with a mask material. A photolithographic technique is used to provide the mask material with a patterned opening in the central region corrsponding in shape to the circuit path and a patterned opening in the lateral region corresponding to the shape of the alignment groove. A layer of resisting material is applied over the mask on the central region and the lateral region is etched to form the groove. The layer of resisting material is removed, and the zone of the central region that is exposed by the opening in the mask is subjected to an ion exchange process in order to form therein an optical path that is in registration with the fiber positioning groove.

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Vulaines sur Seine, France

Alain M Beguin