Tunable optical filter
AssigneeInPhase Technologies, Inc.
InventorKevin Curtis
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Abstract
A tunable optical device for adding or dropping one or more channels in a wavelength division multiplexing communication system is disclosed. The tunable optical device comprises one or more filters, wherein at least one filter comprises (a) one or more elastimers and (b) one or more gratings. An elastimer is a polymer that expands and contracts with a change in a voltage applied across the polymer or when a certain wavelength of light is diffracted from or transmitted through the polymer.
Claims20
A tunable optical device comprising one or more filters, wherein at least one filter comprises (a) one or more elastimers and (b) one or more gratings, wherein at least one elastimer has a change in thickness of at least about 1 percent by the application of 1 volt across a 1 mm thick film of the elastimer.
A method for manufacturing a tunable optical device, comprising:
- forming a filter material comprising one or more elastimers and one or more photoactive materials, and
- forming one or more gratings in the filter material'
- wherein at least one elastimer has a change in thickness of at least about 1 percent by the application of 1 volt across a 1 mm thick film of the elastimer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.