Active alignment photonics assembly
AssigneeTRW Inc.
InventorsEdward J. Palen, Alan M. Hirschberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An active alignment photonics assembly actively couples optical energy between optical devices. An adjustable fiber or other optical carriers, carries an optical signal which is received at a detector where the power level of the optical signal is measured. Based on the power level measurement, the alignment of the fiber or other optical devices contained in the assembly are provided by an optical feed-back loop which controls the position of the fiber or other devices relative to the detector by use of microactuator mechanisms.
Claims21
An active alignment photonics assembly, comprising:
- a fiber optic element for carrying an optical signal;
- a first optical element spaced from said fiber optic element, said first optical element having an input for accepting said optical signal;
- a second optical element disposed in an optical signal path between said fiber optic element and said first optical element for focusing said optical signal;
- a sensing element for determining the power of said optical signal at said first optical element and generating a status signal in response thereto;
- a controller element for receiving said status signal and distributing a correction signal;
- and
- an aligning element connected to said fiber optic element and said second optical element, said aligning element receiving said correction signal and simultaneously adjusting said fiber optic element and said second optical element in response to said correction signal, thereby adjusting the path of said optical signal.
An active alignment photonics assembly, comprising:
- a fiber optic element for carrying an optical signal;
- a first optical element spaced from said fiber optic element, said first optical element having an input for accepting said optical signal;
- a second optical element spaced from said fiber optic element, said second optical element having an input for accepting divergent power of said optical signal;
- a third optical element disposed in an optical signal path between said fiber optic element and said first optical element for focusing said optical signal;
- a sensing element for determining said divergent power of said optical signal at said second optical element and generating a status signal in response thereto;
- a controller element for receiving said status signal and distributing a correction signal;
- and
- an aligning element connected to said fiber optic element and said third optical element, said aligning element receiving said correction signal and simultaneously adjusting said fiber optic element and said third optical element in response thereto, thereby adjusting the path of said optical signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.