Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090010588 | Optimized optical resonator device for sensing applications - An optical resonator is configured for optimized performance as a sensor by maximizing the slope and/or sharpness of the resonance peak, instead of maximizing the Q-factor of the resonator. These characteristics of the resonance peak are controlled, in accordance with the present invention, by modifying the physical parameters of the resonator structure (e.g., dimensions, spacing between waveguides, ring diameter, materials and associated refractive indices, etc.) until the desired peak attributes are achieved, regardless of the Q-factor associated with these optimum attributes. | 01-08-2009 |
20090059233 | MICROFIBER PHOTONIC DEVICES IMMERSED IN A LIQUID MATERIAL - An electromagnetic device, including: a microfiber or other optical waveguide configured to guide an electromagnetic field output by an electromagnetic field source, the microfiber or other optical waveguide having a diameter that is less than or on an order of a wavelength of the electromagnetic field output by the electromagnetic field source; and a first optical material in contact with the microfiber or other optical waveguide, wherein at least a contact region of the microfiber or other optical waveguide and the first optical material is immersed in a liquid or cured dielectric that has an index of refraction less than the index of refraction of the microfiber or other optical waveguide. | 03-05-2009 |
20090080468 | Locally perturbed optical fibers for mode transformers - The specification describes optical devices and related methods wherein the input has multiple modes, and at least one of the multiple modes are respectively converted by one or more multiple mode transformers to produce an output with predetermined modes that are different from the input. In one embodiment the output mode is a single mode. In another embodiment the power ratios of the input modes are controllably changed. In another embodiment one or more output mode is different from the input mode. | 03-26-2009 |
20090080470 | Locally perturbed optical fibers for mode transformers - The specification describes optical devices and related methods wherein an input mode is converted by multiple LPG mode transformers to produce an output with multiple predetermined modes. | 03-26-2009 |
20090276923 | Near-field scanning optical microscopy with nanoscale resolution from microscale probes - To date, the probes of scanning near-field optical microscopes were aimed at creating electromagnetic field characteristics that are maximally localized near a nano-sized point (miniature apertures and tips, fluorescent nano-particles and molecules, dielectric and metal corners). Alternatively, the probe field, which is distributed within a larger area, can ensure the super-resolution as well. For this purpose, the field spectrum should be enriched with high spatial frequencies corresponding to small sample dimensions. As examples of such near-field probes, we propose and theoretically study the models of optical fibers with end-faces containing sharp linear edges and randomly distributed nanoparticles. These probes are more robust than the conventional probes and their fabrication is not concerned with nanoscale precision. The probes enable waveguiding of light to and from the sample with marginal losses distributing and utilizing the incident light more completely. Numerical modeling shows that, even with substantial measurement noise, the suggested probes can resolve objects that are significantly smaller than the probe size and, in certain cases, can perform better than miniature nanoprobes. | 11-05-2009 |
20100209044 | Adiabatic coupler for coiled optical fiber devices - An optical fiber coupler is formed of a section of optical fiber that is positioned between a conventional input fiber (for example, a single mode fiber) or waveguide and a coiled optical fiber device. The adiabatic coupler is coiled (or, at least, curved) to assist in transforming a conventional fundamental mode optical signal propagating along the longitudinal axis of the input fiber to an optical signal that is shifted into a peripheral region of the coiled optical fiber. Moreover, the pitch of an inventive coiled optical fiber coupler can be controlled to assist in the adiabatic transformation process. | 08-19-2010 |
20100231903 | Microbubble optical resonator - An optical microresonator is configured as an optical microbubble formed along a section of an optical microcapillary. The curvature of the outer surface of the microbubble creates an optical resonator with a geometry that encourages the circulating WGMs to remain confined in the central region of the bubble, creating a high Q optical resonator. The resonator may be tuned by modifying the physical properties of the microbubble, allowing the resonator to be used as an optical filter. The resonator may also be used as a sensor or laser by introducing the material to be sensed (or the active laser material) into the microcapillary along which the microbubble is formed. | 09-16-2010 |
20100316070 | Asymmetrically perturbed optical fibers for mode transformers - Utilization efficiency of cladding pump light in a cladding pumped optical device is improved by converting higher order modes travelling in the cladding to lower order modes that enter the core region and participate more effectively in the energy exchange process. The mode conversion is achieved by asymmetric perturbations in the optical fiber. The perturbations are preferably produced by making the optical fiber in the gain section of the device cylindrically asymmetric. The asymmetric perturbations can be chosen so that they have negligible effect on the lower mode signal light in the core of the optical fiber. | 12-16-2010 |
20110043818 | Coiled Evanescent Optical Sensor - An evanescent optical sensor is formed as a coil of either optical fiber or microfiber. By coiling the fiber/microfiber, the overall size of the sensor is significantly reduced when compared to “straight path” prior art fiber sensors, yet exhibits a similar degree of sensitivity, in operation, an optical signal is coupled into a fiber coil that has been immersed in an ambient to be analyzed. The use of a coil configuration results in creating a plurality of whispering gallery modes (WGMs) that will propagate along the coil by reflecting from the surface of the curved fiber/microfiber forming the coil. The interference between these modes will be modified as a function of the properties of the ambient environment within which the coil is immersed. Environmental changes cause variations in the optical length of the coil as “seen” by the various modes, and the interference of the modes is analyzed by studying the transmission spectrum at the output of the coil. | 02-24-2011 |
20120213474 | Coupled Photonic Microdevices With Sub-Wavelength Feature Size - Complex, coupled photonic microdevices are formed to include sub-wavelength-sized radial perturbations sufficient to create resonant cavities, where these devices may be formed along the length of a single optical fiber and coupled together to form relatively complex photonic devices. By carefully selecting the placement and separation of these local radius variations, and using microfibers (or other suitable arrangements) to couple optical signals into and out of the device fiber, resonances in the form of whispering gallery modes (WGMs) are created in the device fiber such that a number of coupled microstructures (such as ring resonators) may be formed. | 08-23-2012 |
20120301077 | Adiabatic Coupler For Coiled Optical Fiber Devices - An optical fiber coupler is formed of a section of optical fiber that is positioned between a conventional input fiber (for example, a single mode fiber) or waveguide and a coiled optical fiber device. The adiabatic coupler is coiled (or, at least, curved) to assist in transforming a conventional fundamental mode optical signal propagating along the longitudinal axis of the input fiber to an optical signal that is shifted into a peripheral region of the coiled optical fiber. Moreover, the pitch of an inventive coiled optical fiber coupler can be controlled to assist in the adiabatic transformation process. | 11-29-2012 |
20130176557 | High Q-Factor Conical Optical Microresonator And Utilization In The Location Characterization Of Optical Fibers - A conically tapered optical fiber with a small half-angle γ (e.g., less than 10 | 07-11-2013 |
20130219970 | MICROBUBBLE OPTICAL RESONATOR - An optical microresonator is configured as an optical microbubble formed along a section of an optical microcapillary. The curvature of the outer surface of the microbubble creates an optical resonator with a geometry that encourages the circulating WGMs to remain confined in the central region of the bubble, creating a high Q optical resonator. The resonator may be tuned by modifying the physical properties of the microbubble, allowing the resonator to be used as an optical filter. The resonator may also be used as a sensor or laser by introducing the material to be sensed (or the active laser material) into the microcapillary along which the microbubble is formed. | 08-29-2013 |
20140211198 | METHOD OF FABRICATING SURFACE NANOSCALE AXIAL PHOTONIC DEVICES - A method of characterizing and correcting effective radius variations in a surface nanoscale axial photonic (SNAP) device that comprises a plurality of separate optical microdevices includes the steps of characterizing an as-fabricated SNAP device to determine local effective radius values of the plurality of separate optical microdevices, calibrating the as-fabricated SNAP device to determine a correction factor defined as a change in effective radius associated with a predetermined corrective treatment and then correcting individual microdevices by the application of a number of refractive index-changing treatments, the number of treatments applied to individual microdevices determined by the amount of correction required and the correction factor determined in the calibrating step. A number of iterations of the characterizing and correcting operations can be performed, achieving less than an Angstrom variation in effective radius variation. An apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed. | 07-31-2014 |
20140247453 | BROADBAND FIBER SENSOR ARRAY - A broadband fiber optic sensor array is formed along a length of single mode optical fiber, with the individual sensing elements formed by introducing local perturbations (e.g., changes in diameter) along the length of the optical fiber. The sensor array requires only a single light source input and a single (conventional) optical spectrum analyzer output and is capable of providing individual measurements (such as local temperature or pressure) for each sensing element disposed along the length of fiber. The individual transmission spectra of the sensing elements forming the array are smooth and strongly overlap, and a method has been developed for determining the characteristics of the individual elements from the variations in the total (combined) transmission spectrum. | 09-04-2014 |