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. 18, 2003
Filed:
Aug. 15, 2002
Shudong Wu, Fremont, CA (US);
Simon X. F. Cao, San Mateo, CA (US);
Thomas Cooney, Milpitas, CA (US);
Weicheng Chen, State College, PA (US);
Avanex Corporation, Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
A reversible optical circulator has an optical switch that includes: an arm composed of piezoelectric material with first and second faces and first and second ends, an electrode coupled to the arm for providing a voltage difference between the first and second faces of the arm, a support coupled to the first end of the arm for fixedly supporting the first end, an object with a convex surface coupled to the second end of the arm, a polarization rotation element coupled to the second face of the arm, a first magnet proximately located to the object and the first face of the arm, and a second magnet proximately located to the object and the second face of the arm. By using this optical switch, the optical circulator has stable and reproducible operation, high switching speeds, and low sensitivity to slight optical mis-alignments.