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AssigneeGemfire Europe Limited
InventorsHindrick Bulthuis, Frederick van der Vliet, Gunter Beelen, Jarnie Pandavenes
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An optical branching component particularly suitable for use as a tap device is described. The component has two optical waveguides coupled between two optical couplers which each include at least one MMI supporting at least two guided modes. There is an effective optical path length difference between the two waveguides and the coupling strength of at least one of the couplers monotonically decreases with increasing wavelength in the operational wavelength region of the component. This means a coupler with relatively large coupling strength and relatively low polarisation dependency can be used in the component, giving low polarisation dependent variation in the tap ratio, particularly for small tap ratios. Moreover, the use of MMIs in the couplers avoids the need to fabricate to a high process tolerance very small gaps between two waveguides, as can be the case with directional couplers used in prior art branching component designs.
An optical branching component comprising two optical waveguides coupled between two optical couplers, wherein there is an effective optical path length difference between the two waveguides, and wherein each said optical coupler comprises a multi-mode interference (MMI) waveguide configured to support at least two guided modes, and the coupling strength of at least one said optical coupler monotonically decreases with increasing wavelength in the operational wavelength region of the component.
An optical branching component comprising two optical waveguides coupled between two optical couplers, wherein there is an effective optical path length difference between the two waveguides, and wherein each said optical coupler comprises a multi-mode interference (MMI) waveguide configured to support at least two guided modes, and each said optical coupler is optimized to achieve a minimum polarization dependency of the said optical coupler.
An optical coupler comprising two optical waveguides which bend away from one another along at least a portion of their lengths and which are coupled together along at least a portion of their lengths by at least one MMI waveguide which is configured to support at least two guided modes, and which are in proximity with one another in at least one region adjacent the MMI waveguide in which region the waveguides are substantially straight.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.