Resonant optical modulators
First Claim
1. A resonant optical modulator, comprising:
- a) a transmission optical waveguide adapted for transmitting therethrough an optical signal, the transmission optical waveguide having a transverse coupling segment;
b) a resonant optical component including at least one circumferential-mode optical resonator, the circumferential-mode optical resonator being positioned so as to be transverse-coupled to the transmission optical waveguide at the transverse-coupling segment thereof, the resonant optical component being substantially resonant with the optical signal;
c) a modulator optical component, the modulator optical component being positioned so as to be transverse-coupled to the circumferential-mode optical resonator; and
d) a modulator control component, the modulator control component being operatively coupled to the modulator optical component, the modulator optical component and the modulator control component being adapted for modulating, in response to an applied control signal, at least one of i) a level of optical signal power transfer by transverse-coupling between the circumferential-mode optical resonator and the modulator optical component, ii) a level of optical loss of the modulator optical component, and iii) a resonant frequency of the modulator optical component, the modulator control component thereby enabling controlled modulation of a coupling condition between the transmission optical waveguide and the resonant optical component, in turn enabling controlled modulation of a level of transmission of the optical signal through the transmission optical waveguide between a higher operational optical transmission level and a lower operational optical transmission level.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A resonant optical modulator comprises a transmission fiber-optic waveguide, a circumferential-mode optical resonator transverse-coupled thereto, a modulator optical component transverse-coupled to the circumferential-mode resonator, and a modulator control component. A control signal applied to the modulator optical component through the modulator control component alters the round-trip optical loss of the circumferential-mode resonator, thereby altering the transmission of a resonant optical signal through the transmission fiber-optic waveguide. The modulator optical element may comprise an open waveguide or a closed waveguide (i.e., resonator). The resonator round-trip optical loss may be altered by altering the optical absorption/scattering of the modulator optical component, by altering the amount of optical power transfer between the resonator and the modulator optical component, or by altering an optical resonance frequency of a resonant modulator optical component.
156 Citations
83 Claims
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1. A resonant optical modulator, comprising:
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a) a transmission optical waveguide adapted for transmitting therethrough an optical signal, the transmission optical waveguide having a transverse coupling segment;
b) a resonant optical component including at least one circumferential-mode optical resonator, the circumferential-mode optical resonator being positioned so as to be transverse-coupled to the transmission optical waveguide at the transverse-coupling segment thereof, the resonant optical component being substantially resonant with the optical signal;
c) a modulator optical component, the modulator optical component being positioned so as to be transverse-coupled to the circumferential-mode optical resonator; and
d) a modulator control component, the modulator control component being operatively coupled to the modulator optical component, the modulator optical component and the modulator control component being adapted for modulating, in response to an applied control signal, at least one of i) a level of optical signal power transfer by transverse-coupling between the circumferential-mode optical resonator and the modulator optical component, ii) a level of optical loss of the modulator optical component, and iii) a resonant frequency of the modulator optical component, the modulator control component thereby enabling controlled modulation of a coupling condition between the transmission optical waveguide and the resonant optical component, in turn enabling controlled modulation of a level of transmission of the optical signal through the transmission optical waveguide between a higher operational optical transmission level and a lower operational optical transmission level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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- 80. A method for controlling transmission of an optical signal through a transmission optical waveguide, the method comprising the step of applying a control signal to a modulator control component, the modulator control component being operatively coupled to a modulator optical component, the modulator optical component being positioned so as to be transverse-coupled to a resonant optical component, the resonant optical component including at least one circumferential-mode optical resonator, the resonant optical component being substantially resonant with the optical signal, the resonant optical component being transverse-coupled to the transmission optical waveguide, the modulator optical component and the modulator control component being adapted for modulating, in response to the applied control signal, at least one of i) a level of optical signal power transfer by transverse-coupling between the circumferential-mode optical resonator and the modulator optical component, ii) a level of optical loss of the modulator optical component, and iii) a resonant frequency of the modulator optical component, the modulator control component, thereby enabling controlled modulation of a coupling condition between the transmission optical waveguide and the circumferential optical resonator, in turn enabling controlled modulation of a level of transmission of the optical signal through the transmission optical waveguide between a higher operational optical transmission level and a lower operational optical transmission level.
Specification