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. 13, 2005
Filed:
Aug. 12, 2004
Vladimir Anatolyevich Aksyuk, Piscataway, NJ (US);
Christopher Richard Doerr, Middletown, NJ (US);
Dan T. Fuchs, Summit, NJ (US);
Vladimir Anatolyevich Aksyuk, Piscataway, NJ (US);
Christopher Richard Doerr, Middletown, NJ (US);
Dan T. Fuchs, Summit, NJ (US);
Lucent Technologies Inc., Murray Hill, NJ (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus are disclosed for adjusting the phase of an optical signal by varying the path length of the optical signal using one or more moveable mirrors. The phase adjustment techniques of the present invention may be employed in various optical devices, including 1×n optical switches. The position of the mirrors may be controlled, for example, using micromachined control elements that physically move the mirror along the lightpath. An exemplary 2-by-2 optical switch includes two waveguides configured to include a coupler region. A mirror is positioned at the output of each waveguide. The position of at least one of the mirrors may be adjusted along the optical path and the mirrors reflect the light exiting from the end of the waveguides back into the same waveguide after an adjustable phase delay due to the round trip through an adjustable air gap between the waveguides and corresponding mirrors.