Angle-cleaved optical fibers and methods of making and using same
First Claim
1. An angle-cleaved optical fiber apparatus comprising:
- an optical light source for emitting light;
at least one optical fiber comprising a plurality of cleaved facets disposed at an end of the at least one optical fiber,wherein a first facet of the plurality of cleaved facets is disposed at a different angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the at least one optical fiber than a second facet of the plurality of cleaved facets;
wherein the end of the at least one optical fiber is positioned with respect to the optical light source such that;
the second facet of the plurality of cleaved facets is configured to reflect a portion of light from the optical light source into an internal core of the at least one optical fiber; and
the first facet of the plurality of cleaved facets is configured to refract a portion of the light from the optical light source onto a detector.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Optical fibers comprising a plurality of cleaved facets disposed at one end are disclosed. First and second facets of the plurality of cleaved facets are disposed at different angles. The optical fiber with the plurality of cleaved facets splits light from an optical component between an optical fiber core and a detector such that a portion of the light may be tapped off for monitoring. The first cleaved facet is disposed at a first angle such that a first portion of the light from an optical component is totally internally reflected into the fiber core. A second cleaved facet can be disposed at a second angle that is less than the first angle so that a second portion of light from the optical component refracts through the second facet to a detector. Methods of forming and using angle-cleaved optical fibers having a plurality of cleaved facets are also disclosed.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. An angle-cleaved optical fiber apparatus comprising:
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an optical light source for emitting light; at least one optical fiber comprising a plurality of cleaved facets disposed at an end of the at least one optical fiber, wherein a first facet of the plurality of cleaved facets is disposed at a different angle with respect to a longitudinal axis of the at least one optical fiber than a second facet of the plurality of cleaved facets; wherein the end of the at least one optical fiber is positioned with respect to the optical light source such that; the second facet of the plurality of cleaved facets is configured to reflect a portion of light from the optical light source into an internal core of the at least one optical fiber; and the first facet of the plurality of cleaved facets is configured to refract a portion of the light from the optical light source onto a detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of monitoring an optical light source, comprising:
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directing light from the optical light source to an optical fiber having at least one angle-cleaved fiber end, wherein the optical fiber further comprises a plurality of cleaved facets disposed at the at least one angle-cleaved fiber end of the optical fiber; refracting a first portion of the light from the optical light source by a first facet of the plurality of cleaved facets to a second facet of the plurality of cleaved facets, which then reflects the first portion of light into an internal core of the optical fiber; reflecting a second portion of light outside of the optical fiber from the optical light source by the first facet of the plurality of cleaved facets to a detector; and detecting light reflected outside of the optical fiber by the at least one angle-cleaved fiber end of the optical fiber at the detector. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification