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:
Jun. 12, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 01, 1999
Stephen O'Brien, Lehigh, PA (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
An improved stepped etalon comprises a transparent body having a stepped surface. Adjacent step lands are separated from each other by a transition region which includes a curved, waved, or otherwise varied step wall such that the average height of the stepped surface does not change abruptly in the transition region from the height of one land to another, but instead varies gradually according to the particular shape of the step wall. In an alternative embodiment, the step transition is formed using a grey-scale or half-tone patterning in which the average height gradually varies across the transition region. The non-planar transition region reduces the amount of coherent interference caused by the step transition thereby reducing the dead spot behind the step transition portions where interference prevents accurate measurements of light transmission from being made.