Variable ring beam generator
AssigneeLumentum Operations LLC
InventorsPatrick Gregg, Martin H. Muendel, Richard D. Faulhaber, Alex Hatcher, John Peck
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Abstract
An optical assembly may comprise an input fiber to provide a beam, a process fiber comprising a ring-shaped outer core surrounded by a cladding, and a first beam shifter arranged to receive the beam from the input fiber and to shift the beam spatially to illuminate the ring-shaped outer core of the process fiber. The optical assembly may further comprise a second beam shifter arranged to receive the beam from the first beam shifter and to add skew to the beam that is launched into the ring-shaped outer core of the process fiber.
Claims20
An optical assembly, comprising:
- an input fiber to provide a beam;
- a process fiber comprising a ring-shaped outer core surrounded by a cladding;
- a first beam shifter arranged to receive the beam from the input fiber and to shift the beam spatially to illuminate the ring-shaped outer core of the process fiber;
- a second beam shifter arranged to receive the beam from the first beam shifter and to add skew to the beam that is launched into the ring-shaped outer core of the process fiber;
- and
- a graded index fiber coupled between the first beam shifter and the second beam shifter,
- wherein the graded index fiber comprises multi-bend components that are configured to form bends in the graded index fiber in two dimensions or three dimensions, and
- wherein the bends have a bend period matched to or nearly matched to a pitch of the graded index fiber.
An optical assembly, comprising:
- an input fiber to provide a beam;
- a process fiber comprising a ring-shaped outer core surrounded by a cladding;
- and
- a graded index fiber, coupled between the input fiber and the process fiber, arranged to receive the beam from the input fiber and to transmit the beam into the ring-shaped outer core of the process fiber,
- wherein the graded index fiber includes a beam shifter arranged to add skew to the beam that is transmitted into the ring-shaped outer core of the process fiber,
- wherein the graded index fiber comprises multi-bend components that are configured to form bends in the graded index fiber in two dimensions or three dimensions, and
- wherein the bends have a bend period matched to or nearly matched to a pitch of the graded index fiber.
An optical assembly, comprising:
- an input fiber to provide a beam;
- a process fiber comprising a single core surrounded by a cladding;
- one or more resonant beam shifters, coupled between the input fiber and the process fiber, to add skew to the beam such that the beam has a ring-shaped intensity distribution at an exit from the single core of the process fiber;
- and
- a graded index fiber that comprises multi-bend components that are configured to form bends in the graded index fiber in two dimensions or three dimensions,
- wherein the bends have a bend period matched to or nearly matched to a pitch of the graded index fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.