Abstract: An optical dispersion compensator including: a spacer element having a top surface and a bottom surface; a thin film, multi-layer mirror formed on the top surface of the spacer element, the thin film mirror having a thermally tunable reflectivity; a highly reflective mirror element formed on the bottom surface of the spacer element; and a heater element for controlling a temperature of the thermally tunable thin film mirror.

Abstract: According to various embodiments and aspects of the present invention, there is provided a dynamically tunable thin film interference coating including one or more layers with thermo-optically tunable refractive index. Tunable layers within thin film interference coatings enable a new family of thin film active devices for the filtering, control, modulation of light. Active thin film structures can be used directly or integrated into a variety of photonic subsystems to make tunable lasers, tunable add-drop filters for fiber optic telecommunications, tunable polarizers, tunable dispersion compensation filters, and many other devices.

Abstract: An optical instrument including: a thermo-optically tunable, thin film, free-space interference filter having a tunable passband which functions as a wavelength selector, the filter including a sequence of alternating layers of amorphous silicon and a dielectric material deposited one on top of the other and forming a Fabry-Perot cavity structure having: a first multi-layer thin film interference structure forming a first mirror; a thin-film spacer layer deposited on top of the first multi-layer interference structure, the thin-film spacer layer made of amorphous silicon; and a second multi-layer thin film interference structure deposited on top of the thin-film spacer layer and forming a second mirror; a lens for coupling an optical beam into the filter; an optical detector for receiving the optical beam after the optical beam has interacted with the interference filter; and circuitry for heating the thermo-optically tunable interference filter to control a location of the passband.

Abstract: An optoelectronic device including a header having an upper surface and including a plurality of conducting pins extending up through the upper surface; an optical device; a tunable optical filter, wherein the optical device and the tunable optical filter are arranged in a vertical stack mounted on and extending above the upper surface of the header and wherein the tunable optical filter is electrically connected to the plurality of conducting pins; and a cap affixed to the header and along with the header defining a sealed interior containing the optical device and the tunable optical filter, wherein the cap has a top surface with a window formed therein, and wherein the window is aligned with the tunable optical filter and the optical device.

Abstract: An optical device including: a substrate with a top surface and a bottom surface and a hole extending through the substrate from the top surface to the bottom surface; and a multilayered thin film structure fabricated on the substrate and forming a membrane over the hole, the multilayered thin film structure including a thermally tunable thin film optical filter structure at least a portion of which is positioned over the hole.

Abstract: An optical device including: a glass substrate; a crystalline silicon layer bonded to the glass substrate; and a thermally tunable thin-film optical filter fabricated on top of the crystalline silicon layer.

Abstract: An IR camera system includes an array of thermally-tunable optical filter pixels, an NIR source and an NIR detector array. The IR camera system further includes IR optics for directing IR radiation from a scene to be imaged onto the array of thermally-tunable optical filter pixels and NIR optics for directing NIR light from the NIR source, to the filter pixels and to the NIR detector arrays. The NIR source directs NIR light onto the array of thermally-tunable optical filter pixels. The NIR detector array receives NIR light modified by the array of thermally-tunable optical filter pixels and for produces an electrical signal corresponding to the NIR light the NIR detector array receives.

Abstract: Materials suitable for fabricating optical monitors include amorphous, polycrystalline and microcrystalline materials. Semitransparent photodetector materials may be based on silicon or silicon and germanium alloys. Conductors for connecting to and contacting the photodetector may be made from various transparent oxides, including zinc oxide, tin oxide and indium tin oxide. Optical monitor structures based on PIN diodes take advantage of the materials disclosed. Various contact, lineout, substrate and interconnect structures optimize the monitors for integration with various light sources, including vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays. Complete integrated structures include a light source, optical monitor and either a package or waveguide into which light is directed.

Abstract: An optical dispersion compensator including: a spacer element having a top surface and a bottom surface; a thin film, multi-layer mirror formed on the top surface of the spacer element, the thin film mirror having a thermally tunable reflectivity; a highly reflective mirror element formed on the bottom surface of the spacer element; and a heater element for controlling a temperature of the thermally tunable thin film mirror.

Abstract: An optical sensor for detecting a chemical in a sample region includes an emitter for producing light, and for directing the light through the sample region. The sensor also includes a detector for receiving the light after the light passes through the sample region, and for producing a signal corresponding to the light the detector receives. The sensor further includes a thermo-optic filter disposed between the emitter and the detector. The optical filter has a tunable passband for selectively filtering the light from the emitter. The passband of the optical filter is tunable by varying a temperature of the optical filter. The sensor also includes a controller for controlling the passband of the optical filter and for receiving the detection signal from the detector. The controller modulates the passband of the optical filter and analyzes the detection signal to determine whether an absorption peak of the chemical is present.

Abstract: An apparatus for depositing films on a substrate, the apparatus including: a plasma deposition chamber having a first electrode and a second electrode that defines a target plane in which the substrate is held during deposition, and wherein during deposition a plasma is sustained between the first and second electrodes, said deposition chamber also including an input window and an output window; and a monitoring system which includes a light source and an optical detector, both located outside of the deposition chamber, said optical monitoring system also including an optical system that directs a beam from the light source through the input window and into the deposition chamber as a measurement beam, wherein the measurement beam arrives at the target plane along a path that is approximately normal to the target plane and wherein during operation said measurement beam interacts with the substrate to generate a return measurement beam that passes from the substrate out of the chamber through the output window

Abstract: A switchable optical filter including a first thin-film optical bandpass filter portion; and a second thin-film optical bandpass filter portion, wherein both the first and second thin-film optical bandpass filter portions are adjacent to each other and form parts of single integral structure, and wherein the first thin-film optical bandpass filter is thermally tunable and is characterized by a passband that shifts as a function of temperature and wherein the second thin-film optical bandpass filter is thermally non-tunable.

Abstract: According to various embodiments and aspects of the present invention, there is provided a dynamically tunable thin film interference coating including one or more layers with thermo-optically tunable refractive index. Tunable layers within thin film interference coatings enable a new family of thin film active devices for the filtering, control, modulation of light. Active thin film structures can be used directly or integrated into a variety of photonic subsystems to make tunable lasers, tunable add-drop filters for fiber optic telecommunications, tunable polarizers, tunable dispersion compensation filters, and many other devices.

Abstract: Materials suitable for fabricating optical monitors include amorphous, polycrystalline and microcrystalline materials. Semitransparent photodetector materials may be based on silicon or silicon and germanium alloys. Conductors for connecting to and contacting the photodetector may be made from various transparent oxides, including zinc oxide, tin oxide and indium tin oxide. Optical monitor structures based on PIN diodes take advantage of the materials disclosed. Various contact, lineout, substrate and interconnect structures optimize the monitors for integration with various light sources, including vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) arrays. Complete integrated structures include a light source, optical monitor and either a package or waveguide into which light is directed.

Abstract: An optoelectronic device including a header having an upper surface and including a plurality of conducting pins extending up through the upper surface; an optical device; a tunable optical filter, wherein the optical device and the tunable optical filter are arranged in a vertical stack mounted on and extending above the upper surface of the header and wherein the tunable optical filter is electrically connected to the plurality of conducting pins; and a cap affixed to the header and along with the header defining a sealed interior containing the optical device and the tunable optical filter, wherein the cap has a top surface with a window formed therein, and wherein the window is aligned with the tunable optical filter and the optical device.