The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 10, 1990
Filed:
Mar. 22, 1989
Suwat Thaniyavarn, Bellevue, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA (US);
Abstract
An optical switch that does not require precise voltage control to produce the crossover and straight-through states. The switch comprises an electro-optic substrate in which a pattern of optical waveguides is formed, the pattern including an input waveguide that branches to form first and second output waveguides. The output waveguides pass through a coupling region within which evanescent field coupling can occur. A first pair of electrodes produces a first propagation constant difference .DELTA..beta..sub.1 in a first section of the coupling region, and a second pair of electrodes produces a second difference .DELTA..beta..sub.2 in a second section of the coupling region. By forming the first and second sections to have different lengths, and by causing .DELTA..beta..sub.1 and .DELTA..beta..sub.2 to have opposite polarities, an optical swtich is provided having wide voltage tolerances for the crossover and straight-through states.