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:
Oct. 19, 1999
Filed:
Jan. 08, 1999
George A Pavlath, Thousand Oaks, CA (US);
Litton Systems, Inc., Woodland Hills, CA (US);
Abstract
Attenuation of an optical signal at the end of an optical fiber is achieved by positioning a high absorption region at the end of the fiber. A first embodiment teaches highly doped wedges within a tapered end of the fiber. The highly doped wedges adjacent the light transmitting core serve to absorb light at the end of the fiber. The light transmitting core of the fiber is reduced in diameter due to the tapering, causing the field of light to expand beyond the core. The highly doped wedges are in proximity to the core due to the tapering. The wedges, which are preferably heavily doped with a rare earth such as erbium, absorbs the escaping light in sufficient quantities, both in the initial pass through the tapered region and again upon reflection of the light at the end of the tapered region, such that the attenuation of the reflected light is within acceptable limits without regard to the condition of the fiber's end surface.