Optical waveguides – With disengagable mechanical connector – Optical fiber to a nonfiber optical device connector
Patent
1990-06-22
1992-03-03
Healy, Brian
Optical waveguides
With disengagable mechanical connector
Optical fiber to a nonfiber optical device connector
385 54, 385 49, 385 55, 385 89, 25022711, 250551, 357 45, 359152, 359154, 359173, G02B 632, H01J 516, G02F 100, H01L 2710
Patent
active
050938797
ABSTRACT:
A direct optical connector (DOC) comprised of first and second members, each including a plurality of light emitting and light detecting locations, operative in combination with energy transfer media to form direct optical connections between the light emitting locations and the light detecting locations, wherein said first and second members are adapted for reclosable connection to each other whereupon the light emitting locations on one member are aligned with the light detecting locations on the other member. The first and second members of the preferred DOC are modular. Alternative forms of energy transfer media are used in various embodiments of the invention including lenslet arrays, imaging fiber plates (IFPs), and energy transfer fiber plates (ETFPs). These media have differing alignment criteria, differing degrees of immunity from crosstalk, differing degrees of transfer efficiency, different manufacturing costs, etc., thereby permitting the fabrication and/or use of a connector most suited to meet the requirements of a particular application.
A modular half of a DOC can be used in conjunction with a remote optical connector (ROC) to channel light over relatively long distances. The invention also encompasses processes for fabricating ROCs.
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Glaser et al., "Optcal Interconnections for Digital . . .", Optics Lett., 1/86, vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 53-55.
Glaser, "Lenslet Array Processors", Applied Optics, vol. 21, No. 7, pp. 1271-1280.
Bregman Mark F.
Brewer William D.
Cohen Mitchell S.
Johnson Glen W.
Noyan Ismail C.
Healy Brian
International Business Machines - Corporation
Kaliko Joseph J.
Morris Daniel P.
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