Patent ID: 6859318
Filing Date: 2005-02-22
Classification: G02B,G03H,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: forming a volume hologram in at least a portion of an optical medium, the volume hologram comprising a set of diffractive elements; and forming first and second optical ports in the optical medium, wherein: the diffractive elements of the set are collectively arranged so as to comprise temporal, spectral, or spatial transformation information, the diffractive elements of the set are collectively arranged so as to exhibit a positional variation in amplitude, optical separation, or spatial phase over some portion of the set, each diffractive element of the set is individually contoured and positioned so as to preferentially route at least a portion of an optical signal between the first and second optical ports as the optical signal propagates within the optical medium, the diffractive element set transforms a chosen input optical signal into a chosen output optical signal according to the transformation information as the input and output optical signals propagate within the optical medium between the first and second optical ports.