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US 2004/0165827 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for combining laser light
AssigneeHRL Laboratories, LLC
InventorsHans W. Bruesselbach, Monica Minden, Cris Jones, Dave Hammon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fiber optic apparatus formed by fusing together multiple optical fibers and stretching the fused optical fibers to form a tapered portion. The tapered portion is cleaved or cut and polished to form a facet at which an optical beam is received or transmitted.
Claims26
A fiber optic apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber having a first end and a second end, said plurality of fibers being fused together along a section of each optical fiber proximate the first end of each optical fiber to form a fused section having a fiber axis, the fused section of the plurality of optical fibers being tapered to form a tapered region;
- and
- a facet, said facet being formed by cleaving or cut and polishing said tapered region in a direction perpendicular to said fiber axis.
A method for coupling light comprising:
- providing a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber having a first end, a second end, and a central core extending between the first and second end;
- fusing the optical fibers together along a section of each optical fiber proximate the first end to form a fused section;
- tapering the fused section of the optical fibers such that a core diameter of each optical fiber proximate the first end is smaller than the core diameter proximate the second end;
- forming a facet by cleaving or cutting and polishing said fused section in a direction perpendicular to the core;
- and
- illuminating the facet with the light.
3 more elements
An apparatus for coupling light comprising:
- a plurality of optical fibers, each optical fiber having a first end and a second end, said plurality of fibers being fused together along a section of each optical fiber proximate the first end of each optical fiber to form a fused section having a fiber axis, the fused section of the plurality of optical fibers being tapered to form a tapered region;
- and
- a facet, said facet being formed by cleaving or cutting and polishing the tapered region in a direction perpendicular to said fiber axis, wherein each optical fiber receives an optical input at the second end, and wherein the optical inputs are emitted from the facet into free space as a single combined optical output, and wherein the optical input has a diameter, and wherein the diameter of the optical input at the first end of a given optical fiber is larger than the diameter of the same optical input at the second end of the given optical fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.