The Boeing Company

Hughes Electronics Corporation

Thomas B Mader

Brian J Fujimori

Andrew J Bristol

Eric J Shinaver

A fiber-optic device package structure includes at least one, and typically several, optical stage subassemblies, and a housing in which each optical stage subassembly is received in a parallel, facing arrangement. Each optical stage subassembly has a thermnal/structural plate, an annular plurality of turns of a fiber-optic fiber supported on the thermal/structural plate, and a light connector to the fiber-optic fiber. Preferably, the annular plurality of turns is formed as a freestanding annulus of the plurality of turns of the fiber-optic fiber encapsulated within an encapsulant.

Compact package structure for fiber optic devices

An optical transition device provides a connection between two fiber structures. The device comprises a first transition body having a first transition body bore therethrough, a first fiber connector connected to the first transition body and having a first connector bore therethrough, a second transition body affixed to the first transition body and having a second transition body bore therethrough, and a second fiber connector connected to the second transition body and having a second connector bore therethrough. The first connector bore, the first transition body bore, the second transition body bore, and the second connector bore are coaxial along a transition axis. A graded-index lens is disposed within the transition body bores with an optical axis of the lens coincident with the transition axis. An axial positioning structure positions the graded-index lens axially along the transition axis.

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Thomas B Mader