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:
Sep. 30, 2003
Filed:
Sep. 13, 2001
Vladimir I. Vaganov, Los Gatos, CA (US);
Sebastiaan R. In't Hout, San Jose, CA (US);
MegaSense, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A variable optical attenuator, or VOA, for attenuating an optical signal between two photonic components by changing an alignment of a light beam with an output photonic component in at least two dimensions. A first configuration of the invented VOA has an actuator and two optical fibers. The actuator moves one optical fiber to form a light beam trajectory on the remaining optical fiber, wherein the shape of the trajectory has at least two separate dimensional components. A second configuration of the invented VOA includes a mirror that the actuator moves within at least two degrees of freedom and thereby forms a two-dimensional trajectory of the reflected light beam on a photonic component. A third embodiment includes a mirror, a mirror actuator and a dual fiber collimator having a lens and two optical fibers. The VOA may be partially or wholly integrated on a substrate and/or incorporated as a MEMS-based device.