Patent ID: 6058233
Filing Date: 2000-05-02
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
An optical interconnection apparatus comprisinga planar free-space region having an input side and an output side;at least one input waveguide, radially connected to the input side of said free-space region, for directing optical signals to a plurality of output waveguides radially connected, at a junction, to the output side of said free-space region;a transition region, extending radially from said junction along said plurality of output waveguides, where a coupling efficiency between said free-space region and said plurality of output waveguides is maximized by reducing the width of said plurality of output waveguides in the transition region close to said junction to be less than the width at distances farther away from said junction, and wherein the width, w, at said junction is smaller than the gaps, t, between adjacent ones of said plurality of output waveguides.