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. 28, 2016
Filed:
Sep. 21, 2011
William R. Holland, Upper Black Eddy, PA (US);
William J. Strachan, Hillsborough, NJ (US);
William R. Holland, Upper Black Eddy, PA (US);
William J. Strachan, Hillsborough, NJ (US);
OFS FITEL, LLC, Norcross, GA (US);
Abstract
A fiber optical coupler comprises a bundle of optical fibers configured to couple light from a multiplicity of input light sources to an output port, each of the fibers comprising a multimode fiber having a core region and a cladding region surrounding the core region. The bundle has first and second axial sections arranged in tandem and adiabatically coupled to one another via a transition zone that includes an optical interface. Within the first section, the ratio of the cross-sectional core area of each of at least some of the fibers to the total cross-sectional area of each of those fibers is given by R, and within the second section, the ratio of the cross-sectional core area of each of at least some of the fibers to the total cross-sectional area of each of those fibers is given by R>R, where Ris substantially constant along the axial length of the second section. In one embodiment, the second section is tapered from a larger diameter at the optical interface to a smaller diameter at the output port. Methods of making such optical couplers are also described.