{
  "patent_number": "US 12422629",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "A Stamped Mirror to Connect Optical Fibers to Tiny Light Chips",
  "original_title": "Optical connection of optical fibers to grating couplers",
  "summary": "This patent describes a method to precisely connect a standard optical fiber to a tiny light-based computer chip (a photonic integrated circuit) using a specially shaped, stamped mirror that redirects and reshapes the light.",
  "what_it_does": "The patent describes an optical coupling that uses a \"stamped optical bench\" with a \"structured reflective surface\" (a mirror) to connect a single-mode optical fiber to a grating coupler on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). This mirror \"turns light transmitted between the grating coupler and the optical fiber\" (Claim 1). Crucially, the mirror's \"reflective surface profile\" is shaped to \"reshape the light\" (Claim 1) to perfectly match the light coming from the fiber to the grating coupler's \"design angle.\" For example, it can make light from a \"flat polished optical fiber\" look like it came from an \"angled polished optical fiber\" (Claim 2), which many existing grating couplers are designed for. The entire \"optical bench\" and the \"fiber alignment structure\" are made at the same time by \"precision stamping a malleable metal body\" (Claim 3).",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover systems that use a separate \"refractive optical element\" (like a lens) between the fiber and the mirror to reshape the light (Claims 4, 5, 6).",
    "Does not cover systems where the mirror is not \"stamped\" or where the fiber alignment structure is not formed \"integrally/simultaneously\" with the mirror (Claim 3).",
    "Does not cover using multi-mode optical fibers; it specifically claims a \"single-mode fiber\" (Claim 1).",
    "Does not cover reflective surfaces that are not \"three-dimensional concave reflective ellipsoidal\" (Claim 1)."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-03-16",
  "granted": "2025-09-23",
  "expires": "2041-03-16",
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Senko Advanced Components",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/senko-advanced-components",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Robert Ryan Vallance",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/robert-ryan-vallance"
    },
    {
      "name": "Rand D. Dannenberg",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/rand-d-dannenberg"
    },
    {
      "name": "Shuhe LI",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/shuhe-li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Michael K. Barnoski",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/michael-k-barnoski"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "telecommunications",
    "semiconductors",
    "consumer_electronics",
    "mechanical"
  ],
  "abstract": "To couple light between an optical fiber and a grating coupler of a photonic integrated circuits, a mirror is provided to turn light to/from the optical fiber to allow the axis of the optical fiber to be oriented at small angles or parallel to the surface of the PIC, and lowered close to the surface of the PIC. The mirror is further configured to reshape light from a flat polished optical fiber to produce a mode field resembling the mode field of an angled polished optical fiber, to match the design angle of existing grating couplers that are designed to work with angled polished optical fibers. The mirror and optical fiber alignment structure in the optical connector are integrally/simultaneous formed by precision stamping.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12422629/optical-connection-of-optical-fibers-to-grating-couplers",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12422629/optical-connection-of-optical-fibers-to-grating-couplers/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12422629",
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}