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. 30, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 02, 2000
Jeffrey D. Walker, El Cerrito, CA (US);
Sol P. Dijaili, Moraga, CA (US);
Richard P. Ratowsky, Castro Valley, CA (US);
Genoa Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
An optical amplifier module that is insensitive to polarization comprises a first fiber, a second fiber, a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), and a polarization dependent loss (PDL) unit. The first fiber provides for optical input to the SOA. The SOA amplifies the optical signal received and outputs the amplified signal. The output of the SOA is optically coupled to the unit. The PDL unit provides polarization dependent loss and the loss is preferably selected to match the polarization dependent gain of the SOA such that when two are coupled there is no overall polarization dependence. The output of the PDL is optically coupled to the fiber for transmission output. The present invention also comprises a method for manufacturing an optical amplifier module that comprises the steps of: determining the polarization dependent gain of an SOA, determining the polarization dependent loss of a plurality of PDL units, selecting a PDL unit such that the polarization dependent loss when coupled to the SOA is reduced, and packaging the SOA and the PDL unit as an optical amplifier module.