Abstract: A solid state optical interconnect system selectively interconnects a plurality of electromagnetic signals between a plurality of inputs and a plurality of outputs. The system includes a plurality of solid state, selectively actuatable 2×2 optical switching elements; and a plurality of all-optical signal paths extending through said 2×2 optical switching elements between the inputs and outputs. Each of said plurality of all-optical signal paths has substantially the same pathlength. This switch element is relatively robust and insensitive to environmental disturbances and has a reconfiguration time which is an order of magnitude faster than conventional opto-mechanical switches which generally require tens of milliseconds before reconfiguration. The switch element provides constant data pathlength for constant latency, loss, and unskewed data output.

Abstract: An external electronically controlled illumination module utilizing polarizing beam splitters to split the light beam from a projection lamp into two polarization states, selectively altering the state of each polarized light beam to reject a controlled portion of the light where the selectively altered beams are recombined and passed to the projection system optics.

Abstract: A device and method for monitoring characteristics of optical signals in an optical telecommunications system are disclosed. The device includes a wedge of birefringent material disposed in an optical path of the device. The thickness of the wedge of birefringent material varies in at least one dimension along the direction of propagation of an optical beam passing through the device. The variation in wedge thickness causes the polarization state of the optical beam to be a function of position along the wedge. The composite energy in the optical beam appears to be formed of two orthogonal polarization components with no phase relationship to each other. If the two orthogonal polarization components of the optical beam are disposed at a predetermined angle relative to the principal efficiency axes of the device, such as approximately 45 degrees, the polarization dependent loss of the device is substantially reduced.

Abstract: A switch element utilizes a single polarizer to couple two discreet inputs to any combination of two discreet outputs along non-blocking optical paths. This switch element may be conveniently networked to additional switch elements for scaling to switches having larger numbers (N) of inputs and outputs. The present invention provides advantages typically associated with conventional polarization gates, including terabit per-second data rates, to facilitate use in fiber-optics networks. This switch element is relatively robust and insensitive to environmental disturbances and has a reconfiguration time which is an order of magnitude faster than conventional optomechanical switches which generally require tens of milliseconds before reconfiguration. The switch element provides constant data pathlength for constant latency, loss, and unskewed data output.

Abstract: A device comprising a housing, at least one optical component, such as, for example, a polarizer, contained in the housing, and a base. At least two fixing means are attached to the housing and at least one fixing means is attached to the base. The at least one optical component is fixed at a predetermined position upon mating of at least one of the at least two fixing means attached to the housing with at least one fixing means attached to the base. Such device provides for more precise optical measurements than devices which include optical components that are rotatable through a continuum of angles.