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:
Jun. 07, 2005
Filed:
Apr. 04, 2003
Zuyun Fang, Henderson, NV (US);
Jianhua Wang, Saratoga, CA (US);
Jian J. Chen, Fremont, CA (US);
Optiworks, Inc., Fremont, CA (US);
Abstract
In a preferred embodiment, a motorized variable optical attenuator comprises an input fiber collimator; an output fiber collimator disposed substantially along the first collimator; and a right-angle reflector movable relative to the input collimator and the output collimator along a translation direction forming a non-zero angle with a direction of a light beam emitted by the input collimator. The reflector comprises two mutually-perpendicular reflective surfaces for sequentially reflecting the light beam emitted by the input collimator to the output collimator. A variable attenuation imparted by the attenuator on the light beam is determined by a position of the reflector relative to the input collimator and the output collimator, along the translation direction. The reflector preferably comprises a right-angle prism adhered to a nut mounted on a threaded axle driven by a stepper motor. The attenuator can achieve stable, ripple-free attenuation characteristics at insertion losses beyond −40 dB.