Piezoelectric and electromagnetic actuators for beam alignment and systems and methods using the same
AssigneeHerzel Laor
InventorHerzel Laor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for actuating optical elements steer a beam in two degrees of freedom in order to efficiently align the beam between a selected input and output. These systems include actuator configurations that have piezoelectric and electromagnetic components, servo control systems, and optical cross connect configurations. The actuable optical elements include reflective surfaces (e.g., mirrors), prisms, lenses, and optical fibers.
Claims27
An optical cross connect comprising:
- a first and a second unit, wherein each of the first and second units includes at least one beam steering unit and at least one beam generating unit;
- and
- at least one input fiber for supplying a transmission signal to the at least one beam generating unit of the first unit and at least one output fiber for receiving the transmission signal from the at least one beam generating unit of the second unit;
- wherein each of the at least one beam steering units includes at least two piezoelectric elements and at least one movable optical element for steering the transmission signal in two degrees of freedom.
An optical cross connect comprising:
- a first and a second unit, wherein each of the first and second units includes at least one beam steering unit and at least one beam generating unit;
- and
- at least one input fiber for supplying a transmission signal to the at least one beam generating unit of the first unit and at least one output fiber for receiving the transmission signal from the at least one beam generating unit of the second unit;
- wherein the first and second units are separated by an optical path, and further wherein the at least one beam generating unit of the first unit and the at least one beam generating unit of the second unit each include a focusing mechanism for focusing the beam at twice the length of the optical path.
A system for determining optimal beam location between a first optical port and a second optical port comprising:
- a first and a second alignment signal, wherein the first alignment signal originates from the first optical port and the second alignment signal originates from the second optical port;
- and
- a first and a second detector;
- wherein each of the first and second alignment signals are detected by each of the first and second detectors in order to determine the alignment of each of the first and second alignment signals with respect to an optical path between the first optical port and the second optical port;
- and
- further wherein, when the alignment of the first and second signals within each of the first and second detectors is the same, the optimal beam location is determined.
A method for determining optimal beam location between a first optical port and a second optical port comprising:
- transmitting a first alignment signal from the first optical port towards the second optical port;
- transmitting a second alignment signal from the second optical port towards the first optical port;
- detecting a first part of the first alignment signal at a first detector and determining a first alignment;
- transmitting a second part of the first alignment signal towards the second detector;
- detecting the second part of the first alignment signal at a second detector and determining a second alignment;
- detecting a first part of the second alignment signal at the second detector and determining a third alignment;
- transmitting a second part of the second alignment signal towards the first detector;
- detecting the second part of the second alignment signal at the first detector and determining a fourth alignment;
- and
- comparing the first, second, third, and fourth alignments, wherein when the first and fourth alignments are equivalent and the second and third alignments are equivalent, the optimal beam location is determined.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.