Optical coupler
OwnerRussell W. Gruhlkeinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical coupler including a substrate, a diffractive optical element defined in the substrate, the diffractive optical element structured to receive incident light diverging from a first location and to focus the incident light at a second location opposite the first location, an electro-optical device mounted on the substrate to one of (a) emit light from and (b) receive light at one of the locations, and an optical waveguide mounted on the substrate to one of (a) receive light at and (b) emit light from the other of the locations.
Claims19
An optical coupler, comprising:
- a substrate;
- a diffractive optical element defined in the substrate, the diffractive optical element structured to receive incident light diverging from a first location and to focus the incident light at a second location opposite the first location across the diffractive optical element;
- an electro-optical device mounted on the substrate to one of (a) emit light from and (b) receive light at one of the first and the second locations;
- and
- an optical waveguide mounted on the substrate to one of (a) receive light at and (b) emit light from the other of the first and the second locations.
An optical coupling method, comprising:
- providing a diffractive optical element;
- obliquely illuminating the diffractive optical element with incident light;
- focusing the incident light with the diffractive optical element;
- and
- receiving the focused, diffracted light across the diffractive optical element.
A method of manufacturing an optical coupling, comprising:
- providing a substrate comprising a semiconductor layer;
- forming in the semiconductor layer and electro-optical device having a front facet;
- etching the substrate to form a recessed surface adjacent the front facet;
- defining a diffractive optical element in the recessed surface;
- and
- positioning an optical waveguide on the substrate across the diffractive optical element from the front facet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.