Optical beam sweeper
AssigneeAlcatel Lucent
InventorLong Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An optical device, comprising an optical device, comprising an optical beam sweeper that includes a multi-wavelength laser source and an optical power splitter. The optical power splitter has an optical input optically coupled to the multi-wavelength laser source, the optical power splitter having N optical outputs, each optical output connected by a corresponding optical pathway of a parallel array to an optical output surface of the optical beam sweeper. N parallel optical paths connect the optical input to the optical output surface, each optical path including a corresponding one the optical pathways and having a different optical path length than the one or more other optical paths, the optical path lengths differing in a wavelength-dependent way.
Claims21
An optical device, comprising:
- an optical beam sweeper, including:
- a multi-wavelength laser source,
- an optical power splitter having an optical input optically coupled to the multi-wavelength laser source, the optical power splitter having N optical outputs, each optical output connected, by a corresponding optical pathway of a parallel array, to a common optical output surface of the optical beam sweeper;
- and
- wherein each of the corresponding N parallel optical pathways connecting the optical input to the common optical output surface has a different optical path length than the other parallel optical pathways, the different optical path lengths differing in a wavelength-dependent way.
A method, comprising:
- producing an optical output beam, including:
- emitting an optical beam from a multi-wavelength laser source optically coupled to an optical power splitter, the optical power splitter having N optical outputs, each optical output connected, by a corresponding optical pathway of a parallel array, to a common optical output surface of the optical beam sweeper;
- and
- wherein each of the corresponding N parallel optical pathways connecting the optical input to the common optical output surface has a different optical path length than the other parallel optical pathways, the different optical path lengths differing in a wavelength-dependent way.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.