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:
Nov. 26, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 15, 2000
David Alan Ackerman, Hopewell, NJ (US);
Richard Bendicks Bylsma, Allentown, PA (US);
Robert Louis Hartman, Warren Township, NJ (US);
Glen Robert Kowach, Fanwood, NJ (US);
Malcolm Ellis Lines, Millington, NJ (US);
Lynn Frances Schneemeyer, Westfield, NJ (US);
Thomas Lawson Koch, Holmdel, NJ (US);
Agere Systems Inc., Allentown, PA (US);
Abstract
The thermo-optic behavior of an optical path over a range of temperatures &Dgr;T is controlled by determining a figure-of-merit (FOM) for the optical path and including in the path a body of crystalline material that enables the conditions specified by the FOM to be satisfied. The crystalline material is highly transparent at a wavelength &lgr; of radiation propagating in the path, and it has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and a refractive index n such that the CTE and dn/dT are mutually adapted to satisfy the FOM over the range &Dgr;T. In one embodiment, the CTE and dn/dT of an etalon compensate one another so as to perform frequency discrimination that is essentially temperature insensitive over the range &Dgr;T. In a preferred embodiment of the optical etalon the crystalline material comprises LiCaAlF .