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:
Apr. 13, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 07, 2002
Christopher S. Wood, Boulder, CO (US);
Terry J. Brown, Lafayette, CO (US);
Jason R. Ensher, Lafayette, CO (US);
ILX Lightwave Corporation, Bozeman, MT (US);
Abstract
The invention provides a polarization scrambler to rapidly change the state of polarization of light transmitted through a single mode fiber such that a substantial portion of the Poincare sphere is covered. A plurality of piezoelectric squeezers couple with an electronic drive. Each squeezer resonates in response to drive signals from the electronic drive to induce radial compression forces on the fiber. The drive signals remain resonant with each squeezer, at frequencies of about 100 kHz, through a feedback loop for each of the squeezers and the electronic drives. Coverage over the Poincare sphere typically occurs in less than about 100 milliseconds, and preferably less than 1 millisecond.