Roadmap Systems Ltd

Huber+suhner Polatls Limited

Huber+suhner Polatis Limited

Peter John Wilkinson

Daping Chu

Brian Robertson

Haining Yang

A method of aligning a first and a second structure, the first structure comprising one or more first surface relief features and a channel system communicating with a surface of the first structure at one or more of the first surface relief features, the second structure comprising one or more second surface relief features shaped complementarily to the first surface relief features; the method comprising: generating suction in the channel system to draw the first and second structures together in a drawing direction; wherein, when the first and second structures are drawn together, the interaction between one or more of the first surface relief features and one or more of the second surface relief features aligns the structures in a plane perpendicular to the drawing direction such that the first and second surface relief features mate.

Method and apparatus for suction alignment

We describe a wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) reconfigurable optical switch, the switch comprising: a set of arrays of optical beam connections, each comprising an array of optical outputs and having an optical input to receive a WDM input optical signal; a first diffractive element to demultiplexed said WDM input optical signal into a plurality of demultiplexed optical input beams, and to disperse said demultiplexed optical input beams spatially along a first axis; first relay optics between said set of arrays of optical beam connections and said first diffractive element; and a reconfigurable holographic array comprising a 2D array of reconfigurable sub-holograms defining sub-hologram rows and columns; wherein said arrays of said set of arrays are at least one dimensional arrays extending spatially in a direction parallel to said first axis and arranged in a column defining a second axis orthogonal to said first axis; wherein said sub-hologram rows are aligned along said first axis, and wherein said sub-hologram columns are aligned along said second axis; wherein a number of said sub-hologram rows corresponds to a number of arrays in said set of arrays; and wherein each sub-hologram row is configured to receive a set of demultiplexed optical input beams at different carrier wavelengths demultiplexed from the optical input for the array of the set of arrays to which the row corresponds; wherein each of said sub-holograms in a sub-hologram row is reconfigurable to steer a respective wavelength channel of the WDM input signal for the array to which the sub-hologram row corresponds, towards a selected said optical output for the array; and wherein each said sub-hologram row is configured to steer the demultiplexed optical input beams for a respective array of the set of arrays of optical beam connections.

Optical switching systems

A wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) reconfigurable optical switch. The switch has a set of arrays of optical beam connections, each comprising an array of optical outputs and having an optical input to receive a WDM input optical signal; a first diffractive element to demultiplexed the WDM input optical signal into a plurality of demultiplexed optical input beams, and to disperse said demultiplexed optical input beams spatially along a first axis; first relay optics between the set of arrays of optical beam connections and the first diffractive element; and a reconfigurable holographic array comprising a 2D array of reconfigurable sub-holograms defining sub-hologram rows and columns. The arrays of said set of arrays and the sub-hologram rows and columns are arranged and aligned in particular ways so that wavelength channels of the WDM input signal for each array can be steered within the device towards a selected optical output.

Growing community of inventors

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Peter John Wilkinson