International Business Machines Corporation

Gian-Luca Bona

Roland Germann

Bert Jan Offrein

Folkert Horst

Dorothea W Wiesmann

Huub L Salemink

Timothy Joseph Dalton

Chandrasekhar Narayan

Hugo Eric Rothuizen

Peter Vettiger

Charles Thomas Black

Nicholas C M Fuller

Maurice McGlashan-Powell

Peter Bloechl

Huub Salemink

Bruno Michel

Michel Despont

Gerd K Binnig

Robert L Sandstrom

Walter Haeberle

Peter Roentgen

Fritz R Gfeller

David J Webb

Ingmar G Meijer

Heinz Jaeckel

Wilhelm Heuberger

Peter Unger

Ingmar Meijer

Robert L Sandstorm

Han Biebuyck

Christian W J Berendsen

Ilana Massarek

Illana Massarek

Horst Folkert

A method in effectuating the redirection of light which is propagated within a waveguide, and which eliminates the necessity for a bending of the waveguide, or the drawbacks encountered in directional changes in propagated light involving the need for sharp curves of essentially small-sized radii, which would resultingly lead to excessive losses in light. In this connection, the method relates to the fabricating and the provision of a wire-grid polarization beam splitter within an optical waveguide, which utilizes a diblock copolymer template to formulate the wire-grid.

Waveguide polarization beam splitters and method of fabricating a waveguide wire-grid polarization beam splitter

The invention relates to a method for creating a pattern on a substrate comprising a first alignment structure, using an elastomeric stamp comprising a patterning structure and a second alignment structure. The method comprises a moving step for moving the elastomeric stamp towards the substrate, and a deformation step for deforming the patterning structure with a tensile or compressive force generated by cooperation of the first alignment structure and the second alignment structure.

Patterning method

The invention is related to an optical cross-connect switch comprising a waveguide connected with one waveguide end to a first optical port and connected with its other waveguide end to a steering device for directing an optical signal beam from said first optical port to a second optical port, said waveguide comprising a patterned waveguide layer disposed on a substrate. The steering device can be arranged in a cavity in the substrate. The optical cross-connect switch then comprises a substrate, which is partially covered by a waveguide layer and a cladding layer, patterned for example by etching processes, with at least one waveguide, connected with one end to one of the optical ports and with the other end, comprising core and cladding, unsupported by the substrate or remaining layers and extending into a switching plane above the cavity, which is located in the substrate. In the cavity the steering device is arranged, designed to direct the free waveguide end in a selectable direction within the switching plane towards an optical element, such as a free end of a further waveguide, designed to receive or send optical signal beams. The optical cross-connect switch preferably comprises a slab waveguide module positioned within the switching plane in order to transfer the optical signal beams between a waveguide connected to the first set of optical ports and a waveguide of the second set of optical ports.

Optical cross-connect switch

A method of inducing phase changes in a FIR filter is provided. The FIR filter consists of a concatenation of tunable couplers and tunable delay lines made of planar waveguides fabricated in SiON technology, forming a plurality of interferometers, at least one of which carries a heater on at least one of its waveguide arms. The method includes the step of exposing at least one of the arms of the interferometers to an irradiation at UV or a smaller wavelength, thereby inducing a change in the refractive index of the waveguide arms which induces the phase difference change. The method provides a procedure that will lead to temperature-stable changes of the refractive index of the waveguides. The resulting device is temperature-stable such that it can be afterwards be heated with chromium heaters to dynamically tune its spectral response without destroying the UV-induced changes.

Pretrimming of tunable finite response (FIR) filter

Described is a device for directing an optical signal from a first optical fiber ( , . . . ) along one of a plurality of selectable switching paths each terminating in a corresponding one of a plurality of second optical fibers ( , . . . ) via an optical element ( , . . . ), the optical element ( , . . . ) being moveable by a controllable actuator ( ) from a first to a second position to change the switching path of incident optical signal. The optical element ( , . . . ) is slideably mounted in parallel to a first mounting plate ( ) comprising a conduit ( ) through which the optical signals from the first optical fiber ( , . . . ) can be directed by the optical element ( , . . . ) along the selected one of the switching paths to one of a plurality of conduits ( ) in a second mounting plate ( ) parallel to the first mounting plate ( ), and further to the corresponding one of second optical fibers ( , . . . ).

Device and method for switching optical signals

A method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress and a therefrom resulting defined birefringence and a therefrom resulting defined optical polarization dependence is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a lower cladding layer of an amorphous material with a first refractive index is provided and above that an upper cladding layer of an amorphous material with a second refractive index, which latter is manufactured from a material which is tunable in its stress. Between the lower and upper cladding layer an optical waveguide core is manufactured comprising an amorphous material having a third refractive index which is larger than the first and second refractive index. The optical waveguide core is thermally annealed, after which it has a defined waveguide core stress. The upper cladding layer is manufactured to have a cladding layer stress that together with the waveguide core stress results in the total device stress.

Method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress

A method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress, birefringence and optical polarization dependence is disclosed. The method comprises first providing a tower cladding layer of an amorphous material with a first refractive index and then providing above the lower cladding layer an upper cladding layer of an amorphous material with a second refractive index. An optical waveguide core comprising an amorphous material having a third refractive index (larger than the first refractive index and the second refractive index) is provided between the lower and the upper cladding layers. The upper cladding layer is thermally annealed by keeping the upper cladding layer at a first temperature, then raising the temperature to a second temperature, maintaining the second temperature for an annealing time period, and lowering the temperature to a third temperature, after which the temperature is lowered to a fourth temperature.

An electrically tunable coupler device is disposed on a substrate comprising a first and a second waveguide, for guiding optical signals. The coupler device comprises a heater element disposed adjacent the first waveguide for thermo-optically shifting the phase of the optical signal in the first waveguide in response to a control voltage applied to the heater element. The heater element is disposed in an interaction region of the optical signals, such that, within the interaction region, a temperature gradient across the first and the second waveguide is generated in dependence on the applied control voltage. A heat sink element can be disposed adjacent the second waveguide to absorb thermal energy from the heater element. This device can be fabricated at reduced cost and in increased packing density and is usable e.g. in directional couplers, Mach-Zehnder interferometers, optical ring resonators, IIR filters, or optical modulators.

Tunable coupler device and optical filter

An optical waveguide device is proposed which comprises a substrate, thereupon a lower cladding layer, thereupon an upper cladding layer and between said cladding layers a waveguide element. The influence of the substrate on the stress-induced birefringence of the optical waveguide device is reduced by modification of the substrate from underneath the waveguide element.

Optical waveguide device

An optical device comprises a substrate having a plane surface. An optical path is disposed on the substrate and extends in a plane parallel to the surface of the substrate. A recess intercepts the optical path. An optical element is provided for modifying light incident thereon. The optical element is moveable within the recess between a first position in which the optical element is located in the path and a second position in which optical element is remote from the path. A cantilever suspends the optical element for movement within the recess between the second and first positions in a direction normal to the surface of the substrate.

Optical devices

An optical device with a defined total device stress (&sgr; ) and a therefrom resulting defined birefringence in order to obtain a well defined optical polarization dependence is proposed. It comprises a lower cladding layer ( ) with a first refractive index (n ), thereon an upper cladding layer ( ) with a second refractive index (n ) and between an optical waveguide core ( ) with a third refractive index (n ) which is bigger than the first refractive index (n ) and the second refractive index (n ). The optical waveguide core ( ) has a waveguide core stress (&sgr; ) resulting from the manufacturing process and the upper cladding layer ( ) is manufactured to have an inherent cladding layer stress (&sgr; ) which together with the waveguide core stress (&sgr; ) results in the total device stress (&sgr; ).

Optical device with a defined total device stress and method for manufacturing it

A singlemode lightwaveguide-coupling element is positioned between an initial waveguide section which there has a basic final width (W ) and a final waveguide section which there has a basic initial width (W ) which is bigger than the basic final width (W ). The lightwave directions of both waveguide sections are inclined at a predetermined total angle (&Dgr;&agr;) towards each other. Starting from the initial waveguide section, the lightwaveguide element comprises intermediate waveguide sections each of which at its end has a lightwave direction which is inclined towards the lightwave direction at its opposite end at an inclination angle (&Dgr;&agr; ), such that the sum of all inclination angles equals the predetermined total angle (&Dgr;&agr;).

Singlemode lightwaveguide-coupling element

Optical memory for storing data

Automatic alignment of an optical waveguide to a ridge waveguide laser is accomplished by transferring the ridge structure of the laser to a substrate by etching a mirror groove. The transferred ridge structure serves as a base for the deposition of waveguide layers. The thickness of the waveguide layers are controlled during the deposition such that the waveguide core is laterally and vertically aligned to the lasing active layer of the laser structure.

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Hedingen, Switzerland

Gian-Luca Bona