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AssigneesRadiant Research Limited, NEC Research Institute, Inc.
InventorsJun Ai, Jan Popelek, Yao Li, Ray T. Chen
Estimating the term…
Accordingly, a beam-splitting ball lens is provided. The beam-splitting ball lens has: a ball lens; and a beam-splitter filter disposed within the ball lens. The ball lens preferably has first and second portions wherein the beam-splitter filter is disposed at a junction between the first and second portions. The beam-splitting ball lens can further have a mid-plane optical element disposed at the junction such as, a wavelength selective filter, a polarization component, an amplitude modulation mask, a phase modulation mask, a hologram and/or a grating. Also provided is a method for fabricating the beam-splitting ball lens of the present invention. The method includes the steps of: providing the ball lens; and disposing the beam-splitter filter within the ball lens. Preferably the disposing step includes: dividing the ball lens into first and second portions; and disposing the beam-splitter filter at the junction between the first and second portions. Also provided is a mount for the beam-splitting ball lens of the present invention. The mount has a body, the body having screws to retain the beam-splitting ball lens therein. The body further having access holes for two inputs and two outputs corresponding to the two inputs. The access holes being aligned with the beam-splitter filter such that light inputted to the inputs are directed to corresponding outputs.
A beam-splitting ball lens comprising:
A method for fabricating a beam-splitting ball lens, the method comprising the steps of:
A mount for a beam-splitting ball lens, the beam-splitting ball lens comprising a ball lens and a beam-splitter filter disposed within the ball lens, the mount comprising a body, the body having a means to retain the beam-splitting ball lens therein, the body further having access holes for two inputs and two outputs corresponding to the two inputs, the access holes being aligned with the beam-splitter filter such that light inputted to the inputs are directed to corresponding outputs, the mount further comprising alignment means for aligning and adjusting the beam-splitting ball lens relative to the inputted light.
A mount for a beam-splitting ball lens, the beam-splitting ball lens comprising a ball lens and a beam-splitter filter disposed within the ball lens, the mount comprising a body, the body having a means to retain the beam-splitting ball lens therein, the body further having access holes for two inputs and two outputs corresponding to the two inputs, the access holes being aligned with the beam-splitter filter such that light inputted to the inputs are directed to corresponding outputs, wherein light is input to and output from the beam-splitting ball lens by optical fiber image guides, the mount further comprising means to fix and adjust the optical fiber image guides in the access holes of the body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.