WO2001094995A3 - Fiber block construction for optical switches and techniques for making the same - Google Patents

Fiber block construction for optical switches and techniques for making the same Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001094995A3
WO2001094995A3 PCT/US2001/017725 US0117725W WO0194995A3 WO 2001094995 A3 WO2001094995 A3 WO 2001094995A3 US 0117725 W US0117725 W US 0117725W WO 0194995 A3 WO0194995 A3 WO 0194995A3
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
fiber
plates
techniques
making
optical switches
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2001/017725
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO2001094995A2 (en
Inventor
Adrian Keating
Bart Erwin
David Welsh
John Bowers
Ping Zhou
Seung Bok Lee
Robert Anderson
Roger Helkey
Original Assignee
Calient Networks Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Calient Networks Inc filed Critical Calient Networks Inc
Publication of WO2001094995A2 publication Critical patent/WO2001094995A2/en
Publication of WO2001094995A3 publication Critical patent/WO2001094995A3/en

Links

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
    • G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
    • G02B6/3564—Mechanical details of the actuation mechanism associated with the moving element or mounting mechanism details
    • G02B6/3582—Housing means or package or arranging details of the switching elements, e.g. for thermal isolation
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3628—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers
    • G02B6/3664—2D cross sectional arrangements of the fibres
    • G02B6/3672—2D cross sectional arrangements of the fibres with fibres arranged in a regular matrix array
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/38—Mechanical coupling means having fibre to fibre mating means
    • G02B6/3807—Dismountable connectors, i.e. comprising plugs
    • G02B6/3833—Details of mounting fibres in ferrules; Assembly methods; Manufacture
    • G02B6/3834—Means for centering or aligning the light guide within the ferrule
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
    • G02B6/32—Optical coupling means having lens focusing means positioned between opposed fibre ends
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
    • G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
    • G02B6/351—Optical coupling means having switching means involving stationary waveguides with moving interposed optical elements
    • G02B6/3512—Optical coupling means having switching means involving stationary waveguides with moving interposed optical elements the optical element being reflective, e.g. mirror
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/26—Optical coupling means
    • G02B6/35—Optical coupling means having switching means
    • G02B6/354—Switching arrangements, i.e. number of input/output ports and interconnection types
    • G02B6/3554—3D constellations, i.e. with switching elements and switched beams located in a volume
    • G02B6/3556—NxM switch, i.e. regular arrays of switches elements of matrix type constellation
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3628—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers
    • G02B6/3632—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers characterised by the cross-sectional shape of the mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3636—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers characterised by the cross-sectional shape of the mechanical coupling means the mechanical coupling means being grooves
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3628—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers
    • G02B6/3632—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers characterised by the cross-sectional shape of the mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3644—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers characterised by the cross-sectional shape of the mechanical coupling means the coupling means being through-holes or wall apertures
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3628—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers
    • G02B6/3648—Supporting carriers of a microbench type, i.e. with micromachined additional mechanical structures
    • G02B6/3652—Supporting carriers of a microbench type, i.e. with micromachined additional mechanical structures the additional structures being prepositioning mounting areas, allowing only movement in one dimension, e.g. grooves, trenches or vias in the microbench surface, i.e. self aligning supporting carriers
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3628—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers
    • G02B6/3664—2D cross sectional arrangements of the fibres
    • G02B6/3676—Stacked arrangement
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3628—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers
    • G02B6/3684—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers characterised by the manufacturing process of surface profiling of the supporting carrier
    • G02B6/3692—Mechanical coupling means for mounting fibres to supporting carriers characterised by the manufacturing process of surface profiling of the supporting carrier with surface micromachining involving etching, e.g. wet or dry etching steps

Abstract

Fiber block (102, 104) construction for optical switches and techniques for making the same are disclosed to achieve high positional accuracy for fiber arrays. High positional accuracy is achieved by using fiber plates (122, 124) with tapered holes, using multiple fiber plates to control both position and angle accuracy of fiber arrays, using tapered fibers for easy insertion of fibers into holes of fiber plates (122, 124), using epoxy to position accurately fiber arrays, using semi-automation to insert accurately fibers (114, 116) into holes of a fiber plate (106, 108), using a custom fiber input block to correct for lens array (106, 108) position errors, and using stackable plates with grooves to position accurately fiber arrays.
PCT/US2001/017725 2000-06-05 2001-05-31 Fiber block construction for optical switches and techniques for making the same WO2001094995A2 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US58850600A 2000-06-05 2000-06-05
US09/588,506 2000-06-05

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2001094995A2 WO2001094995A2 (en) 2001-12-13
WO2001094995A3 true WO2001094995A3 (en) 2003-05-01

Family

ID=24354115

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2001/017725 WO2001094995A2 (en) 2000-06-05 2001-05-31 Fiber block construction for optical switches and techniques for making the same

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2001094995A2 (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6913397B2 (en) * 2002-03-04 2005-07-05 Xanoptix, Inc. Method and system for insertion of fibers of a fiber cable into a ferrule
JP2009175505A (en) * 2008-01-25 2009-08-06 Fujifilm Corp Optical fiber structure
WO2016181778A1 (en) * 2015-05-11 2016-11-17 株式会社中原光電子研究所 Optical fiber array and optical switch

Citations (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4046454A (en) * 1976-05-18 1977-09-06 Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated Optical fiber connector
US4812002A (en) * 1986-10-24 1989-03-14 Hitachi, Ltd. Optical coupling device and method of making the same
US4945400A (en) * 1988-03-03 1990-07-31 At&T Bell Laboratories Subassembly for optoelectronic devices
EP0442312A2 (en) * 1990-02-10 1991-08-21 Alcatel SEL Aktiengesellschaft Integrated optical transmitter and/or receiver
US5135590A (en) * 1991-05-24 1992-08-04 At&T Bell Laboratories Optical fiber alignment method
RU1820353C (en) * 1990-12-28 1993-06-07 Институт Точной Механики И Вычислительной Техники Им.С.А.Лебедева Optical connector assembly
EP0564210A1 (en) * 1992-03-30 1993-10-06 Ngk Insulators, Ltd. Optical fiber connector and method of manufacturing the same
US5345529A (en) * 1993-07-06 1994-09-06 At&T Bell Laboratories Method for assembly of an optical fiber connective device
EP0619505A2 (en) * 1993-03-11 1994-10-12 Ngk Insulators, Ltd. Optical collimator array and method of aligning light axes thereof
US5370768A (en) * 1993-10-14 1994-12-06 At&T Corp. Method for making microstructures
US5416872A (en) * 1993-07-06 1995-05-16 At&T Corp. Arrangement for interconnecting an optical fiber an optoelectronic component
US5907650A (en) * 1997-06-26 1999-05-25 Fiberguide Industries, Inc. High precision optical fiber array connector and method

Patent Citations (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4046454A (en) * 1976-05-18 1977-09-06 Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated Optical fiber connector
US4812002A (en) * 1986-10-24 1989-03-14 Hitachi, Ltd. Optical coupling device and method of making the same
US4945400A (en) * 1988-03-03 1990-07-31 At&T Bell Laboratories Subassembly for optoelectronic devices
EP0442312A2 (en) * 1990-02-10 1991-08-21 Alcatel SEL Aktiengesellschaft Integrated optical transmitter and/or receiver
RU1820353C (en) * 1990-12-28 1993-06-07 Институт Точной Механики И Вычислительной Техники Им.С.А.Лебедева Optical connector assembly
US5135590A (en) * 1991-05-24 1992-08-04 At&T Bell Laboratories Optical fiber alignment method
EP0564210A1 (en) * 1992-03-30 1993-10-06 Ngk Insulators, Ltd. Optical fiber connector and method of manufacturing the same
EP0619505A2 (en) * 1993-03-11 1994-10-12 Ngk Insulators, Ltd. Optical collimator array and method of aligning light axes thereof
US5345529A (en) * 1993-07-06 1994-09-06 At&T Bell Laboratories Method for assembly of an optical fiber connective device
US5416872A (en) * 1993-07-06 1995-05-16 At&T Corp. Arrangement for interconnecting an optical fiber an optoelectronic component
US5370768A (en) * 1993-10-14 1994-12-06 At&T Corp. Method for making microstructures
US5907650A (en) * 1997-06-26 1999-05-25 Fiberguide Industries, Inc. High precision optical fiber array connector and method

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
AKSYUK V A ET AL: "LUCENT MICROSTARTM MICROMIRROR ARRAY TECHNOLOGY FOR LARGE OPTICAL CROSSCONNECTS", PROCEEDINGS OF THE SPIE, SPIE, BELLINGHAM, VA, US, VOL. 4178, PAGE(S) 320-324, XP001038165 *
NEILSON ET AL: "Fully provisioned 112*112 micro-mechanical optical crossconnect with 35.8 Tb/s demonstrated capacity", OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATION CONFERENCE. TRENDS IN OPTICS AND PHOTONICS, vol. 4, 7 March 2000 (2000-03-07) - 10 March 2000 (2000-03-10), Baltimore, MD, USA, pages 202 - 204, XP002223577 *

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Publication number Publication date
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