At&t Bell Laboratories

American Telephone & Telegraph Co., At&t Bell Laboratories

Lucius J Freeman

Paul F Gagen

Calvin M Miller

Jane B Clayton

Muhammad A El

A tunable fiber Farby-Perot interferometer includes two aligned ferrule assemblies (22--22) having adjacent end faces separated by a gap. Each assembly includes a mirror (40) disposed transverse to a longitudinal axis (28) of the assembly and embedded internally therein adjacent to the exposed end surfaces which defines the gap. Each ferrule assembly is held in a sleeve (74) disposed in an end fixture (70) with a piezoelectric transducer system (44) extending between end fixtures. Means (82--82) are provided in each end fixture for deforming slightly the sleeve to cause the ferrule assembly disposed therein to be moved into alignment with the other. The transducer system is operated to adjust the length of the gap between the exposed adjacent end faces. Also, the facilities including the transducer system are provided such that a portion or portions of it may be operated selectively to fine tune further the alignment between the fibers.

Tunable optical filter

Disclosed are aligned plug optical fiber connectors. A preferred embodiment of the inventive connector comprises two cylindrical glass plugs, a glass alignment block of L-shaped cross-section, and a bifurcated metal spring clip that separately urges each plug against the two reference surfaces formed by the arms of the alignment block. The presence of a recessed portion of one of the reference surfaces is optional and can facilitate rotational tuning of the fiber connector.

Optical fiber connector

Disclosed are aligned plug optical fiber connectors that can accommodate larger differences in plug diameter and/or a wider range of plug diameters than is possible in prior art connectors, resulting inter alia in increased economy. The first of these advantages is attained through the use of bilaterally decoupled plug alignment means, i.e., means in which radial deformation of one half of the alignment means does not result in analogous deformation of the other half. A simple example of bilaterally decoupled alignment means is an alignment sleeve with a centrally located lateral slit. The second of the above advantages is attained through use of limited contact bilaterally decoupled alignment means, i.e., bilaterally decoupled alignment means shaped such that only a limited portion of the plug surface is in contact with the alignment means. A simple example of such alignment means is a transversely split alignment sleeve whose bore has roughly ellipsoidal cross-section. A preferred embodiment of the inventive connector comprises two cylindrical glass plugs, a glass alignment block of L-shaped cross-section, and a bifurcated metal spring clip that separately urges each plug against the two reference surfaces formed by the arms of the alignment block. The presence of a recessed portion of one of the reference surfaces is optional and can facilitate rotational tuning of the fiber connector.

Growing community of inventors

Hartwell, GA, United States of America

Lucius J Freeman