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US 6,606,428 B2Granted
Angular-precision enhancement in free-space micromachined optical switches
AssigneeAT&T Corp.
InventorsEvan Lee Goldstein, Lih-Yuan Lin, Robert William Tkach
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Integrated mechanical angular alignment-enhancement structures for incorporation into free-space micromachined optical switches are capable of achieving better than 0.1° micro-mirror angular precision and repeatability with the optical switches. The structures open the path to high port-count crossconnects with sufficiently low loss for deployment in practical optical-communications networks.
Claims16
An optical switching device comprising:
- a matrix of input and output ports, and
- an optical micro-mirror switching element located at an intersection of each path from an input port to an output port, the optical micro-mirror switching element comprising:
- a micro-mirror attached to a substrate through one or mote hinge joints comprised of a hinge pin and a hinge staple, the hinge staple being attached to he substrate,
- one or more pushrods associated with the micro-miror, and capable of rotating the micro-mirror upon movement of a translation stage, and
- at least one mechanical angular alignment-enhancement structure coupled to the one or more pushrods.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.