Abstract: A method and article for splicing metal clad optical fibers and protecting the spliced portion, and a reinforced splice between metal clad optical fibers, is provided. The method comprises the steps of fusing the exposed ends of metal clad optical fibers together, aligning the thus formed splicing area over a metal groove in a lower plate, depositing a metal adhesive on the upper surface of the lower plate, sealing the splicing area by laying a metal groove of an upper plate over that of the lower plate, and uniformly coating and hardening the metal adhesive on the splicing area of the optical fibers by applying high temperature air to the metal grooves. As described above, the splicing area of the optical fibers is protected by a soldering cream adhered thereto so that a high tensile strength is provided. Also, the length of the spliced portion is short so that the spliced optical fiber can be mounted in a small space in a device using optical fibers.

Abstract: A permeable optical fiber waveguide with a liquid core is employed as a probe for the detection or measurement of a chemical specie of interest by filling the waveguide core region with a light transmitting reagent liquid which undergoes a change in an optical characteristic thereof when exposed to the chemical specie and then inserting the filled waveguide into an environment in which the chemical specie may be present. The chemical specie, if present, will permeate through the waveguide wall and react with or be absorbed in the core liquid.

Abstract: An optical fiber filter including a length of single mode fiber having an operating wavelength .lambda..sub.0. Fiber designs may include a depressed inner clad fiber, a photosensitive matched inner clad fiber or a photosensitive depressed inner clad fiber. The length of fiber includes a core, an inner cladding, an outer cladding and an azimuthally asymmetric grating. The core allows the existence of a LP.sub.01 core mode having an effective index of n.sub.eff,01 and the cladding allows the existence of a LP.sub.1m cladding mode, m.gtoreq.1. The core has an index of refraction n.sub.co and a radius A. The inner cladding has an index of refraction n.sub.ic, an inner radius A, an outer radius AB, a thickness W, where W=AB-A, and a refraction difference .DELTA.n-, where .DELTA.n- is the difference between n.sub.ic and n.sub.oc and n.sub.co >n.sub.oc >n.sub.ic. The inner cladding may be photosensitive to a radius R.sub.grat and have a fractional photosensitivity .gamma..

Abstract: In order to increase the distance over which binary data can be transmitted over an optical fiber, the device compensates for fiber-generated chromatic dispersion by modulating the emitted light wave both in power and in phase, in such a manner as to ensure that there is a phase shift of close to 180.degree. within each binary cell for which the optical power is low but not zero. The device comprises a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer made on a substrate of III-V elements and designed so that in the absence of electrical voltages being applied to its electrodes it establishes destructive interference. A control circuit applies control voltages to the electrodes which voltages have DC components that are substantially equal, with at least one of the control voltages being the result of superposing a bias voltage on a filtered signal obtained by lowpass filtering an input electrical signal. The invention is applicable to long distance transmission over standard optical fibers.

Abstract: The invention relates to an optical cable comprising a reinforcing structure (1) for providing sufficient tensile and compression strength for the cable, and one or more longitudinally extending fibre channels (4) in which optical fibres in the form of single fibres (2), fibre bundles or fibre ribbons are positioned. In the cable of the invention, the fibre channel/fibre channels (4) is/are defined directly by said reinforcing structure (1), and the reinforcing structure is made of plastic reinforced with fibre bits (3).

Abstract: The present invention relates to a device for guiding light, made from a polymer material comprising different monomers arranged into a random copolymer. The random copolymer comprises at least one monomer with at least one epoxy group and at least one different monomer which is of vinyl monomer type.

Abstract: A system for delivering a CO.sub.2 laser beam to the roots of a tooth is provided. The system includes a laser beam source, a first fiber having a first diameter connected to the laser beam source at its proximal end and to a hand piece at its distal end, the hand piece including an optical assembly operative to transfer the beam from the distal end of the first fiber to the proximal end of a second fiber having a second diameter smaller than the first diameter with substantial power loss.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an optical waveguide module constructed in the structure that can reduce the number of package components for housing an optical waveguide device for optically interconnecting optical fibers and that can protect the optical waveguide device against stress caused by change of ambient temperature and against impact acting from the outside. This waveguide module comprises a reinforcing member directly adhered to a buffer protector covering the optical waveguide device. This reinforcing member is a plate member bent so that the both ends face each other, and it houses the whole of the optical waveguide device covered by the buffer protector in the internal space thereof.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a light emitting device module which can easily be made and can yield a stable output characteristic, and a method of making the same. The light emitting device module in according to the present invention comprises a semiconductor device in which an active region having a light exit facet and a light reflecting facet with a lower light reflectivity than the light exit facet respectively at both ends is fabricated along a predetermined reference axis, and an optical fiber having a grating provided along the longitudinal direction of the core region and an end facet arranged so as to face the light exit facet. In particular, in the light emitting device module according to the present invention, the light exit facet of the active region is inclined with respect to the light reflecting facet of the active region by a predetermined angle, thereby the light reflecting facet of the active region and the grating constitute an external cavity through the light exit facet.

Abstract: Unidirectional and bidirectional fiber optic rotary joints are disclosed for coupling at least one optical signal across a rotary interface. The unidirectional joint includes a stator having a waveguide. A rotor is rotatable through a full 360.degree. revolution and is concentric to the stator. Light transmitters are positioned on a first circumference and connected to one of the stator and the rotor. Each of the transmitters emits an optical signal. Light receivers are positioned on a second circumference and connected to the other one of the stator and the rotor. Each of the transmitted optical signals is emitted tangentially into the waveguide and is reflected in short chordal lengths along the waveguide. Each optical signal is received by at least one of the second plurality of light receivers through the full 360.degree. revolution of the rotor. The number of light receivers is greater than the number of light transmitters. Certain receivers do not receive an optical signal during a portion of the 360.

Abstract: An optically transmissive material and the production of optically transmissive articles therefrom, in particular a bond between two optically transmissive components including optical fibers and planar devices.

Abstract: An optical waveguide device includes an LiNbO.sub.3 substrate and an optical waveguide disposed on the LiNbO.sub.3 substrate by diffusing Ti therein. The LiNbO.sub.3 substrate has a step on a surface thereof which corresponds to the area in which Ti is diffused. The step has opposite side edges and a central area therebetween, the side edges having a height greater than a height of the central area, whereby the side edges are raised higher than the central area. The optical waveguide device has a relatively small coupling loss with respect to an optical fiber having a small light beam mode shape, thus eliminating optical device loss faults.

Abstract: An optical waveguide layer in a semiconductor photodetector includes a first interface in contact directly with a first insulation layer and a second interface in contact directly with a second insulation layer, wherein each of the first and second insulation layers is much lower in refractive index than any parts of the optical waveguide layer so that a light being propagated through the optical waveguide layer reflects at the first and second interfaces without any permeation into the first and second insulation layers.

Abstract: A cable assembly having predetermined discrete locations for subsequent connectorization is provided. The cable assembly of the present invention includes at least one conductor which may be an optical fiber or standard electrical wire conductor or any other type of conductor. The cable assembly also includes at least one layer of protective coating over the conductor. At least one prescored area is formed in the protective coating during the manufacturing process to provide for ease of connectorization in the field. Preferably, cable stripping is accomplished without the need for any tooling as a result of the prescored area formed in the protective coating.

Abstract: An optical coupling device, or a compound waveguide, in which optical energy is coupled to or from an optical signal propagating along a transmitting waveguide is disclosed. The optical coupling device includes a thin film organic crystal waveguide positioned in optical proximity to a portion of the transmitting waveguide. The organic crystal waveguide has a first, coupling surface facing the transmitting waveguide through which the optical energy is coupled. The transmitting waveguide may be a fiber optic having at least some material removed along a side thereof to facilitate the coupling of optical energy between the fiber optic and the organic crystal waveguide. Polishing and lapping methods for producing the thin film organic crystal waveguide, with optically smooth surfaces, are also disclosed, as are organic salt implementations of the organic crystal.

Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus for testing an array of optical fibers. According to the invention, modulated light is projected through individual fibers of a fiber array onto a photo-sensitive position sensor. The photo-sensitive sensor will provide position information relative to the position of the light projected upon its surface to a system computer. The positions of the optical fibers within the array relative to each other may thus be found. A loop is introduced into the optical fibers to lower the wavelength at which the fiber is multi-moded. The actual positions of the optical fibers are compared to desired positions and the fiber array is accepted or rejected based on whether it meets predetermined limits.

Abstract: An optical interconnection device has a passive control mechanism for substantially eliminating thermal effects on optical properties of the apparatus Specifically, the interconnection apparatus includes a control material coupled to an optical circuit substrate, wherein the control material has a thermal expansion coefficient that is different than a substrate thermal expansion coefficient. In response to an increase or decrease an ambient temperature, the control material thermally expands or contracts at a different rate than the substrate to create a non-planar substrate distortion transmitted to the core portion, thereby creating a temperature independent optical path length within the optical core portion.

Abstract: A dispersion compensator exhibiting low polarisation mode dispersion is constructed from a polarisation beam-splitter, a .pi./4 rotation Faraday rotator, and a matched pair of polarisation maintaining fibres provided with a matched pair of chirped Bragg reflection gratings. The waveguides are oriented with respect to the beam-splitter so that light reaching the waveguides from the beam-splitter via the rotator is launched into both waveguides with a polarisation state aligned with the same polarisation axis (i.e. both fast or both slow).

Abstract: An outgoing light from a light source transmits a photo coupler, a single-fiber optical fiber array, an optical wave guide chip, a four-fiber optical fiber array and an optical fiber, and is reversed, and an outgoing light from another end of the photo coupler is received by a light receiving unit to roughly position the respective components. Thereafter, the four-fiber optical fiber array is positioned with respect to the optical wave guide chip in such a manner that the amount of light that reaches the light receiving unit becomes maximum. The adjustment of the optical axis is enabled with only a single light receiving unit without the use of plural expensive light receiving units, and the adjustment of the optical axis can be performed with ease in a short period of time.

Abstract: A reflective type optical signal distributor comprising, in a housing (2), a plurality of optical input/output units (3) functioning as input and output terminals for an optical signal, an optical circuit assembly (6) for reflecting and separating the optical signal, and a plurality of guide optical fibers (8) for connecting the plurality of optical signals entering any one of the plurality of optical input/output units (3) and the optical circuit assembly (6), whereby an optical input/output units (3) is substantially equally distributed to all other ones of the plurality of optical input and output units (3), the optical circuit assembly (6) comprising an optical circuit in which a plurality of independent branched optical waveguides (22) merge into a single main optical waveguide (21), a reflective surface (4) formed at an end of the main waveguide (21), and the plurality of guide optical fibers (8) being connected to the corresponding plurality of independent branched optical waveguides (22).