Patent ID: 11906823
Assignee: II-VI DELAWARE, INC.
Field: Optics (Instruments)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A reconfigurable port interface for a wavelength selectable switch (WSS), comprising:
a plurality of optical signal coupling ports, at least one port for receiving an optical input signal and at least one port for transmitting an optical output signal;
a birefringent walk-off plate disposed adjacent to the plurality of optical signal coupling ports, the birefringent walk-off plate performing spatial separation of orthogonal polarizations of the optical input signal and spatial recombination of parallel polarizations of the optical output signal; and
a polarization rotator array positioned to intercept optical signals exiting and entering the birefringent walk-off plate, the polarization rotator array including
a plurality of liquid crystal (LC) microcells, each individual LC microcell separately addressable by a control voltage input to provide one of 90° polarization rotation via a first applied voltage, and 0° polarization rotation via a second applied voltage; and
a plurality of control electrodes coupled to the plurality of LC microcells in a one-to-one relationship, wherein first selected groups of adjacent LC microcells are held at the first applied voltage to configure a 90° polarization window and second selected groups of adjacent LC microcells are held at the second applied voltage to configure a 0° polarization window, defining a specific port arrangement of the WSS, the number of individual LC microcells forming the first and second groups selected to define a window size for the defined specific port arrangement.