Photoinduced optical interconnect
AssigneeOFS Fitel, LLC
InventorsRaja A Ahmad, David J DiGiovanni
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A photoinduced refractive index-changing material is coupled directly to both a first port and a second port. An optical interconnect structure (for optically coupling the first port to the second port) is formable in the photoinduced refractive index-changing material by selectively exposing a portion of the photoinduced refractive index-changing material. The selective exposure induces a refractive index change in the photoinduced refractive index-changing material. The change in refractive index provides the waveguiding properties of the optical interconnect structure.
Claims16
A system, comprising:
- a first port selected from the group consisting of:
- a laser source;
- an integrated circuit (IC) chip comprising a waveguide;
- and
- an optical fiber;
- a second port selected from the group consisting of:
- a laser source;
- an IC chip comprising a waveguide;
- and
- an optical fiber;
- a photoinduced refractive index-changing material coupled directly to the first port, the photoinduced refractive index-changing material coupled directly to the second port, the photoinduced refractive index-changing material being selected from the group consisting of:
- a photopolymer;
- a chalcogenide;
- and
- a dielectric;
- and
- a dynamically-formable optical interconnect structure for optically coupling light between the first port and the second port, the dynamically-formable optical interconnect structure formable in the photoinduced refractive index-changing material by selectively exposing a portion of the photoinduced refractive index-changing material, the selective exposure comprising back-reflected light launched from the first port, the selective exposure inducing a refractive index change of between 0.01 percent (%) and ten percent (10%), the dynamically-formable optical interconnect structure comprising:
- a waveguide region defined by the refractive index change, the waveguide region having a diameter that is between 0.5 micrometers (μm) and twenty (20) μm;
- a loss of less than two (2) decibels (dB);
- and
- a length that is less than one (1) centimeter (cm).
A system comprising:
- a first port;
- a second port;
- a photoinduced refractive index-changing material coupled directly to the first port, the photoinduced refractive index-changing material further coupled directly to the second port;
- and
- an optical interconnect structure for optically coupling the first port to the second port, the optical interconnect structure formable in the photoinduced refractive index-changing material by selectively exposing a portion of the photoinduced refractive index-changing material, the selective exposure comprising back-reflected light launched from the first port, the selective exposure inducing a refractive index change in the photoinduced refractive index-changing material.
In a system comprising a first port, a second port, and a photoinduced refractive index-changing material coupled directly to the first port, the photoinduced refractive index-changing material further coupled directly to the second port, a process comprising:
- launching light from the first port into the photoinduced refractive index-changing material;
- launching light from the second port into the photoinduced refractive index-changing material;
- exposing a portion of the photoinduced refractive index-changing material with the launched light from the first port;
- inducing a refractive index change of between 0.01 percent (%) and ten percent (10%) in the exposed portion;
- and
- back-reflecting light launched from the first port to form an optical interconnect that optically couples the first port and the second port, the optical interconnect being formed from the induced refractive index change.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.