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:
Feb. 12, 2008
Filed:
Mar. 10, 2006
Mark A. Dugan, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Ali A. Said, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Philippe Bado, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Mark A. Dugan, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Ali A. Said, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Philippe Bado, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Translume, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Abstract
Disclosed herein are an optical device, such as a connector or mode enlarger, and a method of fabricating the device. The disclosed device includes an optical medium having a first face for, e.g., permanent attachment to a waveguide, a second face for, e.g., a non-permanent connection, and a region between the first and second faces. A non-fiber, connector waveguide is disposed in the region to propagate the single-mode signal from the first face to the second face. The connector waveguide is optically matched to the waveguide at the first face to receive the single-mode signal carried by the waveguide. The connector waveguide includes a taper section such that the connector waveguide is enlarged at the second face to support an expanded beam of the single-mode signal for propagation through the non-permanent connection. In some cases, the taper section receives the single-mode signal from an input section of the connector waveguide to generate an expanded or narrowed beam of the single-mode signal via discrete modulation of waveguide cross-section. An output section of the connector waveguide then supports the propagation of the expanded or narrowed beam of the single-mode signal through the non-permanent connection.