A system that uses a scalable array of individually controllable laser beams that are generated by a fiber array system to process materials into an object. The adaptive control of individual beams may include beam power, focal spot width, centroid position, scanning orientation, amplitude and frequency, piston phase and polarization states of individual beams. Laser beam arrays may be arranged in a two dimensional cluster and configured to provide a pre-defined spatiotemporal laser power density distribution, or may be arranged linearly and configured to provide oscillating focal spots along a wide processing line. These systems may also have a set of material sensors that gather information on a material and environment immediately before, during, and immediately after processing, or a set of thermal management modules that pre-heat and post-heat material to control thermal gradient, or both.

The invention relates to methods for fabricating antireflective surface structures (ARSS) on an optical element using a seed layer of material deposited on the surface of the optical element. The seed layer is removed during or after the etching, and serves to control etching time as well as the transmission region of the optical element having ARSS. Optical elements having ARSS on at least one surface are also provided.

An optical system includes a connector, an optical filter, an optical receiving device, an optical transmission device, and a central processing and transmission unit. The connector is configured for routing optical signals. The optical filter is configured for routing optical signals to and from the connector. The optical receiving device is configured for receiving optical signals routed from the optical filter via the connector. The optical transmission device is configured for generating the optical signals routed from the optical filter via the connector. The central processing and transmission unit is in electrical communication with the optical receiving device. The central processing and transmission unit is configured for transmitting radio or electrical signals carrying data relating either to the optical signals received by the optical receiving device and routed from the optical filter or to determined optical and optical path characteristics based on the optical signals routed from the optical filter.

Systems and methods are provided for a mechanical actuator based on a fiber optic platform. A material that is configured to be activated by light may be incorporated into an optical fiber that serves as both an actuator and a power delivery network. This platform is adaptable to different materials, types of motions, and length scales and allows for precise delivery of photons to the material.

Embodiments relate to a noise suppressor for suppressing noise of an optical signal, including a core through which the optical signal travels, a clad that is wrapped around the core and configured to expose part of the core, and a graphene layer formed on the part of the core, and a digital optical signal generation system including the same.

An embodiment optical connector includes a fiber having a core through which light is guided and a magnet attached to one end of the fiber, and the magnet has an opening that exposes at least the end face of the core. An embodiment optical connection structure includes a first optical connector and a second optical connector, each including a fiber having a core through which light is guided and a magnet attached to one end of the fiber, wherein the magnets are magnetized so as to exert attraction on each other, and when the first optical connector and the second optical connector are mechanically connected by magnetic forces, the core of the first optical connector and the core of the second optical connector are optically connected through the opening of the magnet of the first optical connector and the opening of the magnet of the second optical connector.

A system that uses a scalable array of individually controllable laser beams that are generated by a fiber array system to process materials into an object. The adaptive control of individual beams may include beam power, focal spot width, centroid position, scanning orientation, amplitude and frequency, piston phase and polarization states of individual beams. Laser beam arrays may be arranged in a two dimensional cluster and configured to provide a pre-defined spatiotemporal laser power density distribution, or may be arranged linearly and configured to provide oscillating focal spots along a wide processing line. These systems may also have a set of material sensors that gather information on a material and environment immediately before, during, and immediately after processing, or a set of thermal management modules that pre-heat and post-heat material to control thermal gradient, or both.

An optical device may include a fiber to provide a beam. The optical device may include a graded-index element to expand or magnify the beam. An input facet of the graded-index element may be adhered to an output facet of the fiber. The optical device may include an optical transformation element to transform the beam after the beam is expanded or magnified by the graded-index element. An input facet of the optical transformation element may be adhered to an output facet of the graded-index element. The optical transformation element may comprise at least one active optical element or may be non-birefringent such that orthogonal polarizations of the beam do not experience distinct phase transformations.

An electronic device may have a display overlapped by an image transport layer such as a coherent fiber bundle or layer of Anderson localization material. The image transport layer may have an input surface that receives an image from the display and a corresponding output surface to which the image is transported. The input surface and output surface may have different shapes. During fabrication of the image transport layer, molding techniques, grinding and polishing techniques, and other processes may be used to deform the image transport layer and the shape of the output surface. To accommodate differences in material deformation and other factors that vary as a function of position across the image transport layer, the image transport layer may be formed from canes of fibers or other material with one or more properties that vary as a function of position.

A wavelength reference device includes a broadband optical source, a repeating filter, and a wavelength-specific filter. The source, which can be a super-luminescent light-emitting diode (SLED), emits optical power. The repeating filter, which can be a Fabray-Perot etalon, filters the optical power into a repeating spectral response, and the wavelength-specific filter attenuates the optical power of at least one predefined wavelength response within the wavelength band. The repeating filter and the wavelength-specific filter output a wavelength reference signal having the repeating spectral response attenuated at the at least one predefined wavelength response. The predefined wavelength response reduces the ambiguity that can occur in the repeating frequency locations found in the repeating spectral response. In this way, an absolute wavelength reference is intrinsically provided in the wavelength reference that removes the location ambiguity caused by the repeating spectral response.