Patents by Inventor Bert Offrein

Bert Offrein has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7376310
    Abstract: An optical waveguide element having a cladding layer formed on a substrate and at least one waveguide core formed in the cladding layer for transmitting an optical signal. Two heater sections are provided for shifting a phase of optical signals. The two heater sections show different design. This helps controlling heater induced birefringence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dorothea Wiesmann, Bert Offrein
  • Publication number: 20080069494
    Abstract: An electro-optical module comprising flexible connection cable and aligning capabilities is disclosed. Electro-optical devices may be soldered on a transparent substrate such as glass or a substrate comprising an optical waveguide wherein electrically conductive traces are designed, forming an electro-optical module. When such electro-optical module is inserted and aligned into a printed circuit board, the external part of the substrate, comprising electrically conductive traces and pads, referred to as flex-cable, is bent down toward the mounting plane of the PCB allowing to establish electrical connections between these pads and the PCB. The substrate may be broken along a pre-formed groove, and the external part of the substrate can be removed leaving the flex-cable section in place.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2007
    Publication date: March 20, 2008
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Stefano Oggioni, Bert Offrein
  • Publication number: 20070205479
    Abstract: Techniques for producing a flexible structure attached to a device. One embodiment includes the steps of providing a first substrate, providing a second substrate with a releasably attached flexible structure, providing a bonding layer on at least one of the first substrate and the flexible structure, adjoining the first and second substrate such that the flexible structure is attached at the first substrate by means of the bonding layer, and detaching the second substrate in such a way that the flexible structure remains on the first substrate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Publication date: September 6, 2007
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Roger Dangel, Laurent Dellmann, Michel Despont, Bert Offrein, Stefano Oggioni
  • Publication number: 20070147729
    Abstract: An opto-electronic board including a printed wiring board with an optical waveguide, a metallic area, and a hole, wherein an abutting face of the optical waveguide and an abutting face of the metallic area form a part of the side face of the hole. The opto-electronic board further comprises an opto-electronic circuit with a bonding pad, wherein the opto-electronic circuit is arranged in the hole and soldered with its bonding pad to the abutting face of the metallic area.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2006
    Publication date: June 28, 2007
    Inventors: Laurent Dellmann, Michel Despont, Bert Offrein, David Webb
  • Publication number: 20060267176
    Abstract: An electronic system comprising: an electronic system support substrate for the attachment of components of the electronic system, the electronic system support substrate including electric signal propagation paths for the propagation of electric signals between the system components; at least a first and a second electronic components wherein at least the first electronic component is part of a module in mechanical and electrical connection with the electronic system support substrate, the module comprising a module substrate to which the first electronic component is at least mechanically connected, and an electric coupling between the first and the second electronic components, for the electric coupling allowing the first and the second electronic components exchange of electric signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2006
    Publication date: November 30, 2006
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Bert Offrein, Stefano Oggioni, Mauro Spreafico
  • Publication number: 20060093259
    Abstract: An electro-optical module comprising flexible connection cable and aligning capabilities is disclosed. Electro-optical devices may be soldered on a transparent substrate such as glass or a substrate comprising an optical waveguide wherein electrically conductive traces are designed, forming an electro-optical module. When such electro-optical module is inserted and aligned into a printed circuit board, the external part of the substrate, comprising electrically conductive traces and pads, referred to as flex-cable, is bent down toward the mounting plane of the PCB allowing to establish electrical connections between these pads and the PCB. The substrate may be brokenalong a pre-formed groove, and the external part of the substrate can be removed leaving the flex-cable section in place.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2004
    Publication date: May 4, 2006
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Stefano Oggioni, Bert Offrein
  • Publication number: 20050176161
    Abstract: Techniques for circuit board processing are provided. In one aspect, a method of processing a circuit board having one or more optical waveguides associated therewith is provided. The method comprises the following steps. One or more etch stop layers in proximity to the one or more waveguides are provided, at least one of the etch stop layers comprising one or more fiducials therein. From a surface of the circuit board, the one or more etch stop layers are used to selectively remove material to provide openings having a defined positioning and depth in the circuit board. A circuit board having one or more optical waveguides associated therewith is also provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2004
    Publication date: August 11, 2005
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Urs Bapst, Christoph Berger, Russell Budd, Folkert Horst, Bert Offrein
  • Publication number: 20050149593
    Abstract: Optically coherent, two-port, serially cascaded-form optical delay line circuits can realize arbitrary signal processing functions identical to those of FIR digital filters with complex filter coefficients whilst maintaining a maximum optical transmission characteristic of 100%. The invention provides an iterative process for transitioning in a step-wise manner a filter function of an optical delay line circuit filter from a start filter function to a target filter function. The invention also describes a dynamic gain equalizer incorporating an optical delay line circuit filter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2005
    Publication date: July 7, 2005
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Tonnis Koster, Bert Offrein, Gian Salis
  • Patent number: 6870967
    Abstract: A method of inducing phase changes in a FIR filter is provided. The FIR filter consists of a concatenation of tunable couplers and tunable delay lines made of planar waveguides fabricated in SiON technology, forming a plurality of interferometers, at least one of which carries a heater on at least one of its waveguide arms. The method includes the step of exposing at least one of the arms of the interferometers to an irradiation at UV or a smaller wavelength, thereby inducing a change in the refractive index of the waveguide arms which induces the phase difference change. The method provides a procedure that will lead to temperature-stable changes of the refractive index of the waveguides. The resulting device is temperature-stable such that it can be afterwards be heated with chromium heaters to dynamically tune its spectral response without destroying the UV-induced changes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2005
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dorothea W. Wiesmann, Folkert Horst, Bert Offrein, Gian-Luca Bona
  • Patent number: 6782177
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress and a therefrom resulting defined birefringence and a therefrom resulting defined optical polarization dependence is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a lower cladding layer of an amorphous material with a first refractive index is provided and above that an upper cladding layer of an amorphous material with a second refractive index, which latter is manufactured from a material which is tunable in its stress. Between the lower and upper cladding layer an optical waveguide core is manufactured comprising an amorphous material having a third refractive index which is larger than the first and second refractive index. The optical waveguide core is thermally annealed, after which it has a defined waveguide core stress. The upper cladding layer is manufactured to have a cladding layer stress that together with the waveguide core stress results in the total device stress.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gian-Luca Bona, Roland Germann, Ingmar Meijer, Bert Offrein, Huub L. Salemink, Dorothea W Wiesmann
  • Patent number: 6768857
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress, birefringence and optical polarization dependence is disclosed. The method comprises first providing a tower cladding layer of an amorphous material with a first refractive index and then providing above the lower cladding layer an upper cladding layer of an amorphous material with a second refractive index. An optical waveguide core comprising an amorphous material having a third refractive index (larger than the first refractive index and the second refractive index) is provided between the lower and the upper cladding layers. The upper cladding layer is thermally annealed by keeping the upper cladding layer at a first temperature, then raising the temperature to a second temperature, maintaining the second temperature for an annealing time period, and lowering the temperature to a third temperature, after which the temperature is lowered to a fourth temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gian-Luca Bona, Roland Germann, Ingmar Meijer, Bert Offrein, Huub L Salemink, Dorothea W Wiesmann
  • Publication number: 20040141691
    Abstract: An optical waveguide element having a cladding layer formed on a substrate and at least one waveguide core formed in the cladding layer for transmitting an optical signal. Two heater sections are provided for shifting a phase of optical signals. The two heater sections show different design. This helps controlling heater induced birefringence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 15, 2003
    Publication date: July 22, 2004
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dorothea Wiesmann, Bert Offrein
  • Publication number: 20040071380
    Abstract: A method of inducing phase changes in a FIR filter is provided. The FIR filter consists of a concatenation of tunable couplers and tunable delay lines made of planar waveguides fabricated in SiON technology, forming a plurality of interferometers, at least one of which carries a heater on at least one of its waveguide arms. The method includes the step of exposing at least one of the arms of the interferometers to an irradiation at UV or a smaller wavelength, thereby inducing a change in the refractive index of the waveguide arms which induces the phase difference change. The method provides a procedure that will lead to temperature-stable changes of the refractive index of the waveguides. The resulting device is temperature-stable such that it can be afterwards be heated with chromium heaters to dynamically tune its spectral response without destroying the UV-induced changes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2002
    Publication date: April 15, 2004
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Dorothea W. Wiesmann, Folkert Horst, Bert Offrein, Gian-Luca Bona
  • Patent number: 6678452
    Abstract: An optical waveguide device is proposed which comprises a substrate, thereupon a lower cladding layer, thereupon an upper cladding layer and between said cladding layers a waveguide element. The influence of the substrate on the stress-induced birefringence of the optical waveguide device is reduced by modification of the substrate from underneath the waveguide element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2004
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Bloechl, Gian-Luca Bona, Folkert Horst, Ilana Massarek, Bert Offrein, Roland Germann, Huub Salemink
  • Publication number: 20020194876
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress and a there-from resulting defined birefringence and a therefrom resulting defined optical polarization dependence is disclosed. The method comprises a first step of providing a lower cladding layer of an amorphous material, preferably based on SiO2, that may be doped with elements like Boron and/or Phosphorous with a first refractive index and a second step of providing above the lower cladding layer an upper cladding layer of an amorphous material, preferably based on SiO2, that may be doped with elements like Boron and/or Phosphorous with a second refractive index, and being manufactured from a material which is tunable in its stress.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2002
    Publication date: December 26, 2002
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gian-Luca Bona, Roland Germann, Ingmar Meijer, Bert Offrein, Huub L. Salemink, Dorothea W. Wiesmann
  • Publication number: 20020178760
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing an optical device with a defined total device stress and a therefrom resulting defined birefringence and a therefrom resulting defined optical polarization dependence is disclosed. In a preferred embodiment, a lower cladding layer of an amorphous material with a first refractive index is provided and above that an upper cladding layer of an amorphous material with a second refractive index, which latter is manufactured from a material which is tunable in its stress. Between the lower and upper cladding layer an optical waveguide core is manufactured comprising an amorphous material having a third refractive index which is larger than the first and second refractive index. The optical waveguide core is thermally annealed, after which it has a defined waveguide core stress. The upper cladding layer is manufactured to have a cladding layer stress that together with the waveguide core stress results in the total device stress.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2002
    Publication date: December 5, 2002
    Applicant: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Gian-Luca Bona, Roland Germann, Ingmar Meijer, Bert Offrein, Huub L. Salemink, Dorothea W. Wiesmann