Adaptive optical waveguides

Details Adaptive optical waveguides Adaptive optical waveguides

2002-05-20

2004-02-24

Dunn, Drew (Department: 2872)

Optical waveguides

With optical coupler

Particular coupling structure

C385S002000, C385S008000, C385S015000, C385S016000, C385S031000, C385S132000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06697554

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for defining optical signal paths in a photosensitive material. In one aspect, the present invention relates to an optical waveguide router that may be dynamically adapted by the use of a scanning system.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
Routers are known in the art. A router is a device which routes and interconnects one, or many, network inputs to one or many network outputs through a variety of techniques. Optical routers are used to route incoming optical signals from one or more network inputs to one or more optical outputs. Optical fibres are typically used to apply and collect optical signals at the input and output ports. Methods known in the art for performing this routing on incoming optical signals include the use of patch panels, mechanical, thermo-optic, electro-optic and opto-electronic switching.
Patch panels have obvious drawbacks including requiring manual effort (i.e. human intervention) to alter the configuration of the patch panel. This manual manipulation to reconfigure the optical routing of signals in a patch panel can be quite time consuming and therefore costly. Moreover, patch panels do not allow for remote configuration of the routing signals.
Mechanical switches use electrical actuators, such as motors or solenoids, to physically move fibres or optical elements to alter to routing of the signal. While remote configuration of such a system is possible, it relies on mechanical translation, which is inherently slow and has limited configuration possibilities.
Devices using thermo-optic switches are remotely reconfigured through the use of materials which have indices of refraction which are temperature dependent. By changing the temperature (e.g. through the use of a dissipative element such as a resistor) the index of refraction of a waveguide can be altered, thereby allowing the construction of a switch to alter the path of an incoming optical signal. However, thermo-optic crosspoints built from such switches have a limited and fixed number of routing paths available since the waveguides are fixed resulting in a limited ability to reconfigure the crosspoint device. Moreover, the response time, that is the time taken to alter the refractive index at the thermo-optic crosspoint, is not sufficiently fast to allow for the deployment of the crosspoint device into a number of applications. Finally, to maintain the desired routing, the thermo-optic crosspoint requires that a waveguide or juncture be maintained at the required temperature otherwise the applied thermal energy will dissipate returning the thermo-optic switch's index of refraction to its original, or initial, value. As such, the thermo-optic crosspoint, in response to power outage will lose all routing connections that existed prior to the outage.
Electro-optic devices operate in a similar manner to the thermo-optic devices, described above, except the change in refractive index is accomplished by the application of an electric field. These devices may be switched quickly with sufficiently large applied fields but are intrinsically sensitive to the polarisation of the incoming light. This polarisation sensitivity makes them unusable or very cumbersome to use in the majority of cases. In addition, these devices require patterned metal electrodes to apply the electric field which complicates the device's manufacture.
An optical router can also be implemented through opto-electronic means by using optical-to-electrical converters followed by an electrical switch/router and then electrical-to-optical converters. Although this method does have advantages in some applications (such as the ability to do signal grooming, etc.) it requires a prohibitive number of components necessary to convert an optical signal into an electrical signal and back again. If wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is used, the wavelengths must be separated and converted individually (with systems being introduced with up to 128 wavelengths and beyond on a single fiber, this is a severe drawback). Additionally, the optical-to-electrical and electrical-to-optical conversions can induce distortions in the signal which may be difficult or impossible to remove.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a method and apparatus for the routing of an optical signal that addresses these shortcomings. More particularly, it is sought to provide a method and apparatus for the routing of optical signals which occurs in the optical domain, that can be dynamically reconfigured remotely, is not limited to a fixed number of routing paths and which may have a fast response time enabling wide deployment of the routing method and apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention incorporates a photosensitive material, wherein the material changes between a first state and a second state when exposed to one or more particular wavelengths or wavelength bands of electromagnetic radiation. The change in state of the material results in a change of the material's refractive index at a wavelength or wavelengths different from that of the exciting light. This change in the index of refraction can be used to form a waveguide allowing the propagation of an optical signal. The waveguide may be written by exposing the photosensitive material to electromagnetic radiation to change the material's state and hence to route or switch optical signals. Note that, depending upon the material, a plurality of states and/or state changes may be possible.
Photosensitive materials have the property that, when irradiated by electromagnetic radiation, usually in the near visible or visible spectrum, the material will undergo a photochemical reaction, initiated by the photons, changing the material's state. This new state may be stable and require a reverse photochemical reaction, normally at a different wavelength, to change the material back to its initial state. Alternatively, the material may be unstable or metastable and decay thermally to the initial, or ground, state after a period of time. Often this thermal intermediate state can also be photochemically driven back to the ground state. The electromagnetic absorption spectrum of the material is altered by this change of state. A photorefractive material is any material, upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation undergoes any type of process that results in a change in the index of refraction to incident light. One suitable photosensitive material is a photochromic material. The change in spectral absorption, which defines photochromism, is related to changes in the dielectric constant and hence index of refraction through the well known Kramers-Kronig relations.
Where a photochromic material is used, the change in spectral absorption directly allows for the construction of an optical attenuator.
In general, a material which reacts to light, be it photochromic, photorefractive, phototropic, etc., is referred to as being photosensitive.
The preferred embodiment incorporates a photosensitive material, such as Bacteriorhodopsin (bR), in the waveguide layer. When bR is illuminated with a radiation source of a first wavelength, it moves from a ground state, having an initial index of refraction to an active state exhibiting an altered index of refraction. Thus, a waveguide layer containing bR (or similar material) may be used to route optical signals in the plane of the layer. Portions of the waveguide layer illuminated by a radiation source of a first wavelength by, for example, a laser beam which traces a path on the waveguide layer or by a light source coupled with a mask, will exhibit an altered index of refraction different than that of the surrounding, non-reacted, material. In the case of bR, the index of refraction in the active state will be increased for writing wavelengths shorter than the ground state absorption peak. As such, a routing path can be created which exhibits properties similar to that of an optical fibre (that is an interior core of high index of refraction material—in this case containing b

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