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:
Jan. 22, 2013
Filed:
Jan. 19, 2009
Xuehua Wu, Union City, CA (US);
Haijun Yuan, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Christopher Lin, El Cerrito, CA (US);
Giovanni Barbarossa, Saratoga, CA (US);
Xuehua Wu, Union City, CA (US);
Haijun Yuan, Pleasanton, CA (US);
Christopher Lin, El Cerrito, CA (US);
Giovanni Barbarossa, Saratoga, CA (US);
Oclaro (North America), Inc., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
An optical device is configured to perform both switching and attenuation of an optical beam in response to a single control signal. The optical device includes a liquid-crystal-based beam-polarizing element having polarization-conditioning regions that are controlled using a common electrode. The first polarization-conditioning region conditions the polarization of the input beam in order to separate the input beam into a primary component and a residual component. The second and third polarization-conditioning regions change the polarization of the primary component and the residual component, respectively. The primary component is directed to an output port after it has been attenuated based on its polarization state. The residual component, after passing through the third polarization-conditioning region, has its intensity further reduced based on its polarization state.