Sunburst Masking Technique for 'Chirp' Gratings Patented

CHATSWORTH, Calif., April 15 -- Sabeus Photonics Inc., the technology leader in the design and manufacture of high-concept optical components, acknowledged it has been granted a US patent for a high-concept manufacturing technology that makes possible the cost-effective production of high-precision, wideband, in-fiber dispersion compensation filters. Such filters are of critical importance in the optical communications network, where they are used to counteract the loss of integrity in signals traveling through an optical fiber.

Sabeus also announced it has closed its C Round of funding totaling $21 million .

The Sabeus patent describes a "sunburst" masking methodology, using a variant of a circular phase mask with radially inscribed patterns, that can be used in a volume manufacturing environment to continuously write very short-period gratings (Bragg gratings) of varying periods and refractive indexes into lengths of fiber substantially in excess of 1 meter in length. The patent discloses significant refinements to earlier techniques that make its use in such environments particularly attractive, Sabeus said.

The patent, U.S. 6,344,298, describes a variety of different schemes for fabricating the masks, each of which has utility in achieving a particular performance characteristic in the completed filter.