Claims
- 1. An optical component, CHARACTERIZED BY:
- first and second optical terminations, each termination having a plurality of optical paths;
- first and second lenses, each having first and second focal points, disposed between the terminations; and
- an optical function unit disposed between the lenses;
- wherein the first focal points of the first and second lenses are substantially coincident, and the second focal points of the lenses are substantially aligned with corresponding terminations.
- 2. The optical component recited in claim 1, wherein optical function unit is an optical isolator assembly.
- 3. In an optical amplifier, an optical isolator as recited in claim 2.
- 4. The optical component recited in claim 1, wherein the lenses are simple lenses with substantially equal first and second focal lengths.
- 5. The optical component recited in claim 1, the plurality of optical paths being further characterized by having N optical paths and the optical paths in each termination in one to one correspondence with the optical paths in the other termination.
- 6. The optical component recited in claim 1, wherein the optical paths are optical fibers.
- 7. A method of performing an optical function, CHARACTERIZED BY THE STEPS OF:
- collimating light from a first optical termination with a first plurality of optical paths;
- optically processing the collimated light;
- reimaging the processed collimated light onto a second termination with a second plurality of optical paths.
- 8. The method recited in claim 7, wherein the first plurality of optical paths are in one-to-one correspondence with the second plurality of optical paths.
- 9. The method recited in claim 8, wherein the optical processing step is characterized by the step of optical isolating the collimated light.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority of Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/019,952 which was filed on Jun. 14, 1996.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5796889 |
Xu et al. |
Aug 1998 |
|