Multi-Body Optical Device Reinforcement via CTE-Matched Plate
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge lies in manufacturing smaller optical interleavers with reduced internal component sizes, which increases fabrication complexity and decreases yield, while maintaining long-term stability and reliability, especially in harsh environments.
Innovation Solution
The approach involves bonding a supporting plate with a matching coefficient of thermal expansion to the multi-body optical device, followed by grinding to reduce thickness, and direct bonding of components like polarization beam splitters and retro-reflectors without air gaps, eliminating the need for anti-reflective coatings and simplifying the manufacturing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the size of internal optical components is reduced to make smaller optical interleavers, then the device size is reduced, but the fabrication complexity increases and yield decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate optical components (polarization beam splitters, retro-reflectors, spacers) into a single integrated multi-body optical device. This merging approach reduces the overall device size while simplifying fabrication by eliminating the need to separately manufacture and assemble multiple small components, thereby improving yield without increasing complexity.
2Volume of moving object
If the size of internal optical components is reduced to make smaller optical interleavers, then the device size is reduced, but the yield of internal components decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating multiple optical functions into a single multi-body device with unified construction, the patent eliminates the compounding difficulty of manufacturing and aligning multiple separate small components. This integrated approach maintains high manufacturing yield while achieving compact device dimensions.
3Volume of moving object
If a multi-body optical device is made thinner, then the device size is reduced, but the strength and stability of the device decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a composite structure where multiple optical components are precisely bonded together with appropriate spacing to form a multi-body device. This composite construction provides enhanced mechanical strength and thermal stability despite the reduced overall thickness, as the distributed structure resists deformation better than a single thin component would.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is segmented into multiple functional bodies (polarization beam splitters, retro-reflectors, spacers) that are bonded together. This segmentation allows each component to maintain optimal thickness for its function while the assembled structure achieves both compactness and structural integrity through the distributed architecture.
4Volume of moving object
If a multi-body optical device is made thinner, then the device size is reduced, but the long-term stability and reliability of the device decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The multi-body composite structure with precisely bonded components provides superior thermal and mechanical stability compared to a single thin component. The distributed architecture resists warping and deformation under thermal stress, ensuring long-term reliability in harsh environments while maintaining compact thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
Spacer elements are used as intermediaries between optical components to maintain precise spacing and alignment. These spacers act as mechanical mediators that ensure stable positioning and prevent direct contact between components, thereby maintaining alignment stability and device reliability over time despite the thin overall structure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enhances the strength and stability of thinner optical devices, improves yield, reduces fabrication complexity, and decreases thermal deformation, resulting in more reliable and cost-effective optical interleavers with reduced insertion loss.
Implementation Method 1
The supporting plate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that is within about 0.5 parts per million of the CTE of the multi-body optical device
Implementation Method 2
the multi-body optical device is ground to reduce the thickness of the multi-body optical device
Implementation Method 3
a supporting plate is bonded, using pressure and heat, to a multi-body optical device to form a reinforced multi-body optical device
Data Source
AI summary
A reinforced multi-body optical device that in one embodiment includes a multi-body optical device having a thickness that is less than or equal to about 1.0 millimeter and a supporting plate bonded without epoxy to the multi-body optical device. In an embodiment the supporting plate has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that is within about 0.5 parts per million of the CTE of the multi-body optical device.