NSF Award
9961022
This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I project focuses on the innovative use of microspheres to provide substantially long pathlengths for spectrum analysis. Microspheres are spheres of optical material 100 um or less in diameter. They have the ability to propagate light around their equatorial diameter. Light can be coupled in and out of the microsphere. In this way, a microsphere can serve as the light chamber for spectral analysis, offering a meters-long path length in a very small volume. This will allow the construction of accurate optical spectrum analyzers in a small, robust package. Typical spectrum analyzers are delicate laboratory instruments that do not support field use. Furthermore, the ultra-narrow channel spacing being planned for optical networks will exceed the currently available range capabilities of optical spectrum analyzers. The proposed device will be relatively inexpensive, easy to integrate into new and existing fiber networks, and rugged enough to survive field deployments. Telecommunications service providers need field monitoring equipment to prevent system shutdowns, and the best tool for that job is an optical spectrum analyzer. The proposed device would provide that capability with better accuracy, at a lower cost, and in a package capable of continuous use in the field.
