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:
Aug. 17, 1999
Filed:
Nov. 19, 1997
Kurt Losch, Stuttgart, DE;
Alcatel Alsthom Compagnie Generale d'Electricite, Paris, FR;
Abstract
It is known to expose a photosensitive waveguide core to an optical interference pattern which is produced using a phase mask. Precise positioning of the phase mask above the optical waveguide is difficult if several Bragg gratings are to be produced in a confined space. The invention solves the problem of how to produce virtually arbitrarily defined refractive-index gratings in a core of an optical waveguide with high precision without the use of phase masks. To accomplish this, a buffer layer of the optical waveguide, preferably the cladding layer (CLA), is patterned in such a way that UV laser light directed to the waveguide forms an optical interference pattern in the core (COR), thereby imprinting a Bragg grating. The pattern (GST) in the buffer layer is preferably formed by etching.