Optical Device And Methods

• US 20150208144A1
• Filed: 08/15/2013
• Published: 07/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2012
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Thomas Swan & Company Limited (Aixtron AG)
• Original Assignee: Thomas Swan & Company Limited (Aixtron AG)
• Inventors: Holmes, Melanie
• Granted Patent: US 10,257,594 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0212 using optical switches or wavelength selective switches [WSS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0003 Details
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0009 using wavelength filters

Abstract

A device and method for controlling light by wavelength in a device with a switch plane and a dispersion plane uses optics providing an imaging function in the dispersion plane, and a Fourier transform function in the switch plane, so as to enable crosstalk to be reduced

Claims

1. A switch device having a spatial light modulator, a dispersion device for spatially dispersing light onto the spartial light modulator, the switch device having a switch plane and a dispersion plane, and optics providing an imaging function in the dispersion plane, and a Fourier transform function in the switch plane.

2. A switch device according to claim 1 wherein the spatial light modulator has a first portion for spatially filtering light and a second portion for routing light.

3. A switch device according to claim 1, wherein the spatial light modulator comprises an LCOS SLM.

4. A method of controlling light using a spatial filter and a routing device in a switch having a dispersion plane and a switching plane, the method comprising performing an imaging function in the dispersion plane and performing a Fourier transform function in the switching plane.

5. An optical switch having an input, a switching stage, and an output, the switching stage disposed between the input and the output, wherein the switch is adapted to receive at its input plural optical signals of different wavelengths, the switching stage comprising a first electrically controllable portion for selectively blocking at least one of the wavelengths, and a second electrically controllable portion for routing output wavelengths of the first stage to the switch output.

6. An optical switch according to claim 5, wherein the electrically controllable first portion is configured to spatially filter inputs by wavelength.

7. An optical switch according to claim 5, adapted to receive an ensemble of optical wavelengths.

8. An optical switch according to claim 5, having plural input ports and a single output port.

9. An optical switch according to claim 5, having a dispersion device wherein the first electrically controllable portion is a first LCOS array configured to receive dispersed light from the dispersion device and to selectively pass light onto a second LCOS array as the second electrically controllable portion.

10. An optical switch according to claim 5, having a dispersion device disposed to receive incident optical radiation along the optical axis of the switch and arranged to angularly disperse said optical radiation by wavelength in a dispersion plane.

11. An optical switch according to claim 10, having a switch plane orthogonal to the dispersion plane and optics for performing an imaging function in the dispersion plane, and a Fourier transform function in the switch plane.

12. An optical switch according to claim 5, having a birefringent element, for separating polarization components of input radiation wherein the or each input port may have an associated microlens for focussing input radiation onto the birefringent element.

13. An optical switch according to claim 5, having a collimating device disposed to receive separated polarization components and to provide light collimated in the dispersion plane.

14. An optical switch according to claim 12, having optics for focussing the separated components to two separate areas, wherein at one of these areas, there is a half wave plate.

15. An optical switch according to claim 9, having a lens arrangement configured to spatially distribute light by wavelength in wavelength groups onto a reflective spatial light modulator, the optical switch being configured so that reflected light from at least one of the wavelength groups passes through a cylindrical dispersion lens to an optical device that acts as a retroreflector in the dispersion plane, but a mirror in a switch plane perpendicular to the dispersion plane.

16. An optical switch having an input, a switching stage, and an output, wherein the switch is adapted to receive at its input plural optical signals of different wavelengths, the switching stage comprising a first electrically controllable portion for routing selected wavelengths to a second electrically controllable portion for selectively blocking at least one of the wavelengths to the switch output.

17. An optical switch according to claim 16 wherein the second electrically controllable portion is configured to spatially filter inputs by wavelength.

18. An optical switch according to claim 16, having a single input port and plural output ports.

19. An optical switch adapted to receive at an input plural optical signals of different wavelengths, optics arranged to receive the optical signals and to spatially distribute the beam onto a first LCOS array, operable to spatially filter light of the beam, the first LCOS array being arranged to provide output light to a second LCOS array, the second LCOS array being configured to route selected wavelengths to one or more outputs of the optical switch.