Jds Uniphase Corporation

Other

Lumentum Operations LLC

David J Chapman

Douglas E Crafts

Jinxi Shen

Steven M Swain

Suresh Ramalingam

Jyoti Kiron Bhardwaj

Barthelemy Fondeur

Robert Brainard

Kenzo Ishida

James F Farrell

David J Dougherty

Hiroaki Yamada

Wenlin Jin

Boping Xie

Sanjay M Thekdi

Zi-Wen Dong

Anantharaman Vaidyanathan

Duane Cook

Mark Brian Farrelly

Thomas Nguyen

David K Nakamoto

Erik W Egan

Niranjan Gopinathan

Yingchao Yan

Niki Liu

Shanrui Ren

A wavelength selective device including an arrayed waveguide grating is disclosed. The wavelength selective device includes a MEMS mirror, which couples light from an input port to an elongate aperture of an input star coupler or slab of the arrayed waveguide grating. A controller tilts the MEMS mirror in response to a sensed temperature change of the arrayed waveguide grating, thereby lessening a sensitivity of the arrayed waveguide grating to the temperature change. The MEMS mirror can also be tilted to shift wavelengths of the wavelength channels of the arrayed waveguide grating by pre-defined amounts upon receiving a corresponding remote command.

Reducing temperature drift of an arrayed waveguide grating

An optical interferometer for demodulating a differential phase shift keying optical signal includes a planar lightwave circuit and at least one free space delay line optically coupled to the planar lightwave circuit. The planar lightwave circuit has a waveguide splitter, a waveguide coupler, and a phase adjuster. In operation, the splitter splits the optical signal into equal portions, the phase adjuster adjusts the relative phase of the optical signal portions, and the free space delay line provides one-bit delay between the portions of the optical signal. The delayed signals are mixed in the waveguide coupler. The free space delay line can be made variable for adjustment of the bit delay for operation at different bit rates, and/or for optimization of the interferometer performance.

Optical interferometer

A tunable PLC optical filter having sequentially connected thermally tunable Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometers is described. The MZ interferometers, having free spectral ranges matching ITU frequency grid spacing, are tuned so as to have a common passband centered on the frequency of the signal being selected, while having at least one of the stopbands centered on any other ITU frequency. Any other optical channel that may be present at any other ITU frequency is suppressed as a result. The PLC chip, including a zero-dispersion lattice-filter interleaver stage, a switchable fine-resolution stage and, or a retroreflector for double passing the filter, is packaged into a hot-pluggable XFP transceiver package. A compensation heater is used to keep constant the amount of heat applied to the PLC chip inside the XFP package, so as to lessen temperature variations upon tuning of the PLC optical filter.

Tunable optical filter

A coherent planar lightwave circuit (PLC) optical mixer chip is described comprising a matched pair of symmetrical four-coupler interferometers for in-phase and in-quadrature detection of two polarization components of light using a polarization diversity arrangement. The waveguide structure of the chip is symmetrical about two orthogonal central axes of the chip, whereby the effect of temperature gradients on the mixer is reduced. A light traveling from an input to an output of any of the two interferometers is cross-coupled by one of the two couplers it passes through, and is bar-coupled by the other of the two couplers, so as to compensate for polarization, wavelength, and manufacturing process dependence of bar-coupling with that of cross-coupling.

Coherent optical mixer and a method of coherent detection of light

A planar lightwave circuit includes an arrayed waveguide grating (AWG), with input and output waveguides, partially curved array waveguides with respective length differences, and planar waveguide regions for focusing optical energy between the input/output and array waveguides. Optimal waveguide widths and spacing along the planar waveguide region facets are disclosed, which are largely determinative of AWG size and optical performance. Also disclosed are optimal cross-sectional waveguide dimensions (e.g., width and height); modified index of refraction difference between the waveguide core and cladding regions; and optimal array waveguide lengths, path length differences, and free spectral range. These features, especially when combined with advanced fiber attachment, passivation and packaging techniques, result in high-yield, high-performance AWGs (both gaussian and flattop versions).

Compact, low insertion loss, high yield arrayed waveguide grating

An optical component package, in which a transfer molded layer of material (e.g., syntactic foam in one embodiment) is formed at least partially around, or entirely around, the optical component to provide structural and thermal insulation around the component. The optical component may be a planar lightwave circuit (PLC), with a protective passivation layer formed between the PLC and the layer of syntactic foam, to de-couple stresses and thermal transfer between the PLC and the layer of syntactic foam. Strengthening caps, fiber assemblies, and a heater may be provided with the PLC assembly, around which the layer of syntactic foam can also be formed. The protective passivation layer can also be formed between these structures and the syntactic foam; in one embodiment between at least two strengthening caps formed on opposing edges of the PLC. The disclosed package provides numerous structural, thermal and size benefits.

Transfer molded packages with embedded thermal insulation

An optical component package, having an insulative buffer placed against the component, enclosing a first insulative cavity against a temperature-sensitive portion of the component. An outer package provides additional insulation for the component. The buffer may be formed of a soft insulative material, and pressed against the component by an inner surface of the outer package. For the PLC embodiments disclosed, the buffer is planar and includes a frame projecting from its perimeter toward the component to form the cavity. A heater may be positioned proximate the optical component to control its temperature, in which case a second buffer may be placed against the heater, enclosing a second insulative cavity against the heater, aligned with the temperature-sensitive portion of the component. The buffers and insulative cavities of the present invention provide important insulation for optical areas requiring precise temperature control for proper operation.

High thermal efficiency, small form-factor packages including thermally insulative cavities, and transfer molded variants

Growing community of inventors

San Jose, CA, United States of America

David J Chapman