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US 7,444,042 B1Granted
Optical switch
AssigneeNational Semiconductor Corporation
InventorsTrevor Niblock, Gerard Dirk Smits
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical switch is implemented with one or more cantilevered optical channels, which are formed in a flexible waveguide structure, and an actuator which is connected to the cantilevered optical channels, to position the cantilevered optical channels to direct an optical signal along one of a number of optical pathways.
Claims19
An optical switch comprising:
- an optical waveguide structure having:
- a first polymer material having a top surface and a bottom surface;
- a plurality of strips of a second polymer material that form a plurality of optical channels, the first polymer material touching each strip of the second polymer material and isolating laterally adjacent strips of the second polymer material from each other, the plurality of optical channels including a first optical channel, a second optical channel, and a third optical channel;
- and
- a U-shaped opening that extends through the first polymer material from the top surface of the first polymer material to the bottom surface of the first polymer material, the U-shaped opening exposing an end of the first optical channel, an end of the second optical channel, and an end of the third optical channel.
2 more elements
An optical waveguide structure comprising:
- a first polymer material having a top surface and a bottom surface;
- a plurality of strips of a second polymer material that form a plurality of optical channels, the first polymer material touching each strip of the second polymer material and isolating laterally adjacent strips of the second polymer material from each other, the plurality of optical channels including a first optical channel, a second optical channel, and a third optical channel;
- and
- a U-shaped opening that extends through the first polymer material from the top surface of the first polymer material to the bottom surface of the first polymer material, the U-shaped opening exposing an end of the first optical channel, an end of the second optical channel, and an end of the third optical channel.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.