Liquid crystal planar non-blocking NxN cross-connect
First Claim
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1. An optical device for directing a light signal, comprising:
- an optical path for propagating the light signal;
a trench formed in the optical path, said trench including a surface region;
an alignment layer disposed on said surface region; and
a liquid crystal material disposed in said trench, said liquid crystal material having a plurality of molecules that are aligned in a first direction by said alignment layer.
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Abstract
A non-blocking N×N cross-connect is provided that has an array of liquid crystal (LC) switches in a grid of planar optical waveguides within a light optical circuit (LOC). LC filled trenches are used in a planar optical waveguide and each trench provides the functionality of a waveguide polarization splitter, a transverse electric (TE) switch cross point, a transverse magnetic (TM) switch cross point, or a waveguide polarization combiner. By combining these elements, a cross-connect system is fabricated.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An optical device for directing a light signal, comprising:
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an optical path for propagating the light signal;
a trench formed in the optical path, said trench including a surface region;
an alignment layer disposed on said surface region; and
a liquid crystal material disposed in said trench, said liquid crystal material having a plurality of molecules that are aligned in a first direction by said alignment layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14)
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11. The optical device according to claim l, wherein the optical device is disposed within one of a polarization splitter, a polarization combiner, a TM switch, a TE switch, a variable optical attenuator, a signal splitter, and an N×
- N TE-TM array.
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12. A method of directing a light signal in an optical device, said optical device having a first optical path and a second optical path, said method comprising:
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forming a trench in a cross-point, wherein said cross-point is a location where the first optical path intersects the second optical path;
forming an alignment layer on a surface region of the trench;
disposing a liquid crystal material having a plurality of molecules in the trench, wherein said alignment layer causes said plurality of molecules to align in a first direction; and
applying a voltage to said liquid crystal material to thereby change an alignment of said plurality of molecules from said first direction to a second direction to cause a portion of the light signal to be directed from the first optical path into the second optical path.
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15. A method of directing a light signal in an optical device, said optical device including an optical path, a trench formed in said optical path, and an alignment layer disposed on a surface of said trench, said method comprising:
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disposing a switch element in the trench, said switch element including a plurality of liquid crystal molecules that are aligned in a first direction by the alignment layer when no electrical energy is applied to said switch element; and
applying electrical energy to said switch element to thereby cause said plurality of molecules to align in a second direction. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. An optical device for directing a light signal, said optical device including a substrate having an optical waveguide layer disposed thereon, said optical device comprising:
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at least one first electrode disposed between the substrate and the optical waveguide;
a trench formed in the optical waveguide, said trench having a surface area;
a first alignment layer disposed on the surface area of said trench;
a liquid crystal material disposed in said trench and covering said first alignment layer;
a top plate connected to the substrate; and
a second alignment layer disposed on the top plate and adjacent to said liquid crystal material. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A liquid crystal cross-connect device, comprising:
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an input port for receiving light;
a polarization splitter to split the received light into transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) components;
a TM switch array connected to receive the TM components from the polarization splitter;
a TE switch array connected to receive the TE components from the polarization splitter;
a polarization combiner coupled to the TM switch array and the TE switch array to combine the outputs of the TM switch array and the TE switch array; and
an output port coupled to the polarization combiner. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification