High speed optical system
First Claim
1. A light transmission system comprising:
- a light source;
an optical fiber; and
a transfer lens for conveying light emitted by said light source into said optical fiber; and
wherein;
an optical axis runs from said light source through said transfer lens onto said optical fiber;
said transfer lens has a first surface for receiving light from said light source;
said transfer lens has a second surface for exiting light received at the first surface from said light source, and launching the light into a first end face of a said optical fiber light; and
the second surface has a slope discontinuity proximate to the optical axis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical system for high speed transmission of optical data. The system may condition light signals from a source for projection into an optical medium that is to convey the signals with high speed to another place. This conditioning may result in the light having an annular intensity distribution or profile. Much of the intensity of the light is near the periphery of the optical medium. This medium may be an optical fiber. This annular distribution may be attained with an optical element having a slope discontinuity or light from it being defocused to a certain extent at the optical medium. Either of these characteristics or both of them may used in the optical system so it can transmit light signals at very high rates.
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Citations
47 Claims
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1. A light transmission system comprising:
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a light source;
an optical fiber; and
a transfer lens for conveying light emitted by said light source into said optical fiber; and
wherein;
an optical axis runs from said light source through said transfer lens onto said optical fiber;
said transfer lens has a first surface for receiving light from said light source;
said transfer lens has a second surface for exiting light received at the first surface from said light source, and launching the light into a first end face of a said optical fiber light; and
the second surface has a slope discontinuity proximate to the optical axis. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An optical system comprising:
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an optical element having an input surface, an output surface, and an optical axis; and
an optical medium having an end proximate to the output surface of said optical element and an end distal to the output surface of said optical element, the optical medium configured to receive emitted light having a received annular intensity profile and transfer the light to the distal end such that the transferred light substantially retains the received annular intensity profile at the distal end; and
wherein;
the output surface has a continuous slope/curvature in an area approximately between a periphery of the output surface and a first distance from the optical axis; and
the output surface has a discontinuity in an area within a perimeter of the first distance for emitting light having an output annular intensity profile receivable at the proximate end of the optical medium.
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13. An optical system comprising:
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an optical element having an input surface and an output surface; and
an optical fiber having an input surface, an output surface with a center point; and
wherein;
the output surface of said optical element is proximate to the input surface of said optical fiber;
the output surface of said optical element has a shape and configuration such that for light input into the input surface of said optical element, the output surface of said fiber has an output of encircled flux;
no more than 30 percent of the output of encircled flux is within 4.5 microns from the center point; and
at least 86 percent of the output of encircled flux is within 19 microns from the center point.
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14. An optical system comprising:
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an optical fiber; and
an optical element having an input surface, and an output surface proximate to a first end of said optical fiber; and
wherein the output surface of said optical element is situated near the first end of said optical fiber, such that upon receipt of light by the input surface of said optical element, said optical element is defocused relative to the first end of said optical fiber so as to result in a distribution pattern of light having a lack of light at a center of the first end of said optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An optical system comprising:
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an optical fiber having a first end;
an optical element wherein said optical element is a defocused well-corrected optic relative to the first end of said optical fiber; and
wherein said defocused well-corrected optic projects light has an annular shaped intensity profile, and wherein substantially all of the projection of light having an annular shaped intensity profile is received within the first end of said optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. An optical system comprising:
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a light source;
an optical element having a first surface proximate to said light source and having a second surface;
an optical fiber having a first end proximate to the second surface of said optical element and having a second end;
wherein;
said optical element has the characteristic of receiving light from said light source and projecting the light with an annular amplitude distribution on to the first end of said optical fiber; and
said optical fiber has the characteristic of receiving the light projected from said optical element and projecting the light from the second end of said optical fiber with an annular power distribution. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A coupler comprising:
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an optical source for providing an input optical signal;
a lens having a slope discontinuity for receiving the input optical signal and forming an optical signal having an annular intensity profile from the input optical signal;
an output optical fiber configured to receive the optical signal having an annular intensity profile; and
an optical axis running from said input optical fiber through said transfer lens and onto the output optical fiber, wherein the optical fiber, transfer lens, and output optical fiber are substantially optically aligned along the optical axis. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43)
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44. A coupler comprising:
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an optical source for providing an input optical signal;
a lens having a slope discontinuity for focusing the input optical signal into an optical signal having an annular intensity profile; and
an output optical fiber configured to receive within a first end of the output optical fiber and transmit the optical signal having an annular intensity profile, wherein the optical signal received within the first end of the output optical fiber substantially retains its annular intensity profile during transmission by the output optical fiber to a second end of the output optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47)
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Specification