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. 07, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 25, 1999
Jeffrey E. Cortright, Corning, NY (US);
Martha B. Custer, Corning, NY (US);
Ronald E. Johnson, Tioga, PA (US);
Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY (US);
Abstract
A method for fabricating optical devices for transmission and/or manipulation of light includes steps of providing a substrate which defines a reference plane for positioning cladding material and core material, fixing rigid spacers to an upper surface of the substrate, the spacers having upper surfaces which define a second plane spaced above the reference plane, depositing a layer of a formable, curable under-cladding material over the upper surface of the substrate, the upper surface of the rigid spacers providing a guide for precise control of the height of the under-cladding material above the surface of the substrate, curing the under-cladding material under compression to form an under-cladding layer, and depositing a light guide core and over-cladding on the under-cladding. The method is susceptible to mass production and provides more precise control of the position of the light guide core relative to a substrate surface. The resulting optical device includes a substrate, a pattern of rigid spacers fixed to the upper surface of the substrate, a polymeric under-cladding layer positioned on the substrate and in space defined between the rigid spacers, a polymer light guide core positioned on the under-cladding layer, and a polymeric over-cladding layer positioned over the light guide core and at least a portion of the under-cladding.