Tunable optical directional coupler
OwnerJia Jiang, Chunshu Zhanginventors
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Abstract
A tunable optical directional coupler includes a first waveguide and a second waveguide proximal to the first waveguide, the first and second waveguides defining a light-coupling coefficient. The tunable optical directional coupler also includes a doped junction having a refractive index that is responsive to an applied bias voltage wherein the refractive index is changeable to enable tuning of the light-coupling coefficient. The tunable optical directional coupler may be used to split power, tune the phase, split polarizations or to tune a ratio of a tap-monitor.
Claims19
A tunable optical directional coupler comprising:
- a first waveguide;
- a second waveguide proximal to the first waveguide, the first and second waveguides defining a light-coupling region therebetween, the light-coupling region having a light-coupling coefficient;
- and
- a doped junction at least partially overlapping the light-coupling region and having a refractive index that is responsive to an applied bias voltage wherein the refractive index is changeable to enable tuning of the light-coupling coefficient of the light-coupling region.
A method of tuning a tunable optical directional coupler, the method comprising:
- transmitting light through a first waveguide;
- coupling a portion of the light from the first waveguide to a second waveguide proximal to the first waveguide and defining a light-coupling region therebetween, the light-coupling region having a light-coupling coefficient;
- and
- applying a bias voltage to a doped junction at least partially overlapping the light-coupling region and having a refractive index that is responsive to the applied bias voltage to thereby tune the light-coupling coefficient.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.