Abstract: An optical system may be configured as a receiving or as a transmitting system. As a receiving system, it is configured to receive at least one incident laser beam and project the beam into a spot on an array of actuable elements. The position of the spot is determined by the incident angular direction of the beam. The array is configured to track the position of the spot and at each tracked position of the spot to direct the beam onto an actual element. The actuable element tracks the spot so as to direct the beam onto a fixed path toward an optical receiver. As a transmitting system, it includes an actuable element configured to direct the light output from a laser into a spot on an array of actuable elements. The array is configured to track the position of the spot and at each tracked position of the spot to direct the light into a beam-forming system. The beam-forming system is configured to project the light in a transmitted beam having a variable angular direction.

Abstract: A high-sensitivity signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) determining apparatus measures the in-band SNR of an optical data signal by detecting and demodulating the optical signal and analyzing a narrow bandwidth of the resulting electrical data spectrum at half the data clock frequency, or more generally, a predetermined frequency equal to a multiple M of one-half the clock frequency, fclk/2, where M is an integer equal to or greater than one, may be used. When the optical signal is a WDM signal, a tunable filter isolates a single channel for detection. The detected electrical signal is subjected to both an in-phase and quadrature narrowband RF demodulation using a local oscillator at precisely half the clock frequency. Using this technique, the magnitude of the data portion of the optical signal becomes the in-phase component and the magnitude of the noise present in the optical signal becomes the quadrature component.

Abstract: A monolithic waveguide/MEMS switch is disclosed that has a waveguide portion and a MEMS mirror portion fabricated on a single substrate, such as a as a silicon-on-insulator wafer. The monolithic waveguide/MEMS switch adjusts the phase of an optical signal by varying the position of one or more moveable mirrors. The mirror portion includes a mirror having a reflective surface that is attached to at least one MEMS actuator to achieve in-plane motion of the mirror (moves parallel to a plane of said at least one waveguide). In one implementation, the MEMS actuator is embodied as a known comb drive actuator. The phase adjustment techniques of the present invention may be employed in various optical devices, including wavelength selective optical switches that support multiple optical channels.

Abstract: A monolithic waveguide/MEMS switch is disclosed that has a waveguide portion and a MEMS mirror portion fabricated on a single substrate, such as a as a silicon-on-insulator wafer. The monolithic waveguide/MEMS switch adjusts the phase of an optical signal by varying the position of one or more moveable mirrors. The mirror portion includes a mirror having a reflective surface that is attached to at least one MEMS actuator to achieve in-plane motion of the mirror (moves parallel to a plane of said at least one waveguide). In one implementation, the MEMS actuator is embodied as a known comb drive actuator. The phase adjustment techniques of the present invention may be employed in various optical devices, including wavelength selective optical switches that support multiple optical channels.

Abstract: An antenna comprises a resonator and a waveguide. The resonator comprises at least one body having a negative effective electrical permittivity or a negative magnetic permeability when a resonance is excited therein by electromagnetic radiation lying in some portion of the microwave spectrum. A termination of the waveguide is situated adjacent the resonator. The resonator is conformed such that at the resonance, there is efficient coupling between the resonator and the waveguide.

Abstract: A structure and method of enhancing optical emissions and optical energy comprising a metal layer having a first surface comprising a plurality of voids, said voids having a dimension less than the wavelength of optical energy being processed.

Abstract: An optical transmission system is provided which uses optical single-sideband (SSB) modulation and incorporates at least one mid-span analog SSB regenerator arranged to produce a phase conjugation of the transmitted signal. The phase conjugation technique, referred to here as complementary sideband regeneration (CSR), is accomplished on the retransmitted optical signal in the electrical domain, and requires no nonlinear optical techniques.

Abstract: A monolithic waveguide/MEMS switch is disclosed that has a waveguide portion and a MEMS mirror portion fabricated on a single substrate, such as a as a silicon-on-insulator wafer. The monolithic waveguide/MEMS switch adjusts the phase of an optical signal by varying the position of one or more moveable mirrors. The mirror portion includes a mirror having a reflective surface that is attached to at least one MEMS actuator to achieve in-plane motion of the mirror (moves parallel to a plane of said at least one waveguide). In one implementation, the MEMS actuator is embodied as a known comb drive actuator. The phase adjustment techniques of the present invention may be employed in various optical devices, including wavelength selective optical switches that support multiple optical channels.

Abstract: In accordance with the invention, a tunable, reconfigurable optical add-drop filter comprises a pair of optical waveguides optically coupled by a microring or microdisk resonator wherein the coupling distance between the resonator and at least one of the waveguides is micromechanically controllable. With this arrangement, the degree of coupling can be tuned after fabrication to provide high level extinction of dropped wavelengths and the filter can be dynamically reconfigured. Advantageously, laser radiation is provided to tune the resonant wavelength.

Abstract: A laser communication system includes transmitters and detectors coupled to a multimode fiber through “arms”, which can consist of N optical fibers joined to the main fiber through a 1×N fiber splitter. A set of N data streams is RF modulated onto RF carriers of identical frequency. RF modulated data streams are used to intensity modulate the N laser transmitters. N optical signals are combined onto the single multimode fiber for transmission to M multiple detectors, where M≧N. Each M detector receives power from all N transmitting lasers. The M detectors utilize direct optical detection to convert the received optical signal to a RF signal, which can be demodulated using standard RF techniques. The inherent modal-coupling diversity between the arms introduced by the optical system, when combined with modal dispersion in the multimode fiber, introduces a decorrelation in both the transmitted and received signal arrays to enhance signal throughput.

Abstract: An optical transmission system utilizes optical single-sideband (SSB) modulation and incorporates at least one mid-span analog SSB regenerator arranged to produce a phase conjugation of the transmitted signal. The phase conjugation technique, referred to here as complementary sideband regeneration (CSR), is accomplished on the retransmitted optical signal in the electrical domain, and requires no nonlinear optical techniques. If the phase conjugation is performed at the mid-point between two identical spans of optical fiber, all even orders of chromatic dispersion are automatically compensated. In addition, distortion effects incurred as a result of the square-law detection of the SSB signal are reduced by inverting the signal in the transmitter included in that regenerator. The simultaneous correction of chromatic dispersion and SSB distortion is accomplished using a four-span transmission with CSR in each regenerator and signal inversion occurring in the first and third regenerator.

Abstract: In accordance with the invention, a tunable, reconfigurable optical add-drop filter comprises a pair of optical waveguides optically coupled by a microring or microdisk resonator wherein the coupling distance between the resonator and at least one of the waveguides is micromechanically controllable. With this arrangement, the degree of coupling can be tuned after fabrication to provide high level extinction of dropped wavelengths and the filter can be dynamically reconfigured. Advantageously, laser radiation is provided to tune the resonant wavelength.