Patent ID: 11870201
Assignee: LUMENTUM OPERATIONS LLC
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 14:
15. A fiber optic beam combiner, comprising:
a plurality of optical components, the plurality of optical components comprising:
a group of input fibers,
a tapered waveguide,
a splice,
an output fiber attachment component, and
an output fiber; and

a set of sensor components, the set of sensor components comprising:
at least one sensor associated with a degradation property, the at least one sensor associated with the degradation property comprising:
a photodiode arranged to measure scattered light at or near the output fiber attachment component;
a stress sensor arranged to measure stress at or near the output fiber attachment component; or
a camera arranged to identify hot spots at or near at least one of the tapered waveguide, the splice, or the output fiber attachment component; and

at least one sensor associated with a health property, the at least one sensor associated with the health property comprising:
a temperature sensor and a power monitor arranged to measure optical power associated with at least one of the tapered waveguide or the splice; or
a photodiode arranged to measure scattered light at or near at least one of the group of input fibers or the output fiber; and

wherein at least one of the set of sensor components is configured to provide sensor output to an operational monitor associated with the fiber optic beam combiner.