An opto-mechanical fuse is provided. The opto-mechanical fuse includes a chassis component, an extrusion disposed on a monitored component proximate to the chassis component and a sensor. The sensor includes an optical conductor mounted to the chassis component to assume one of an optically transmitting state and an optically non-transmitting state in both power-on and power-off conditions. An assumption of the optically non-transmitting state by the optical conductor occurs due to an interaction of the optical conductor and the extrusion resulting from a predefined magnitude of deflection of the monitored component.

An apparatus includes a first reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) to receive a first optical signal and a second ROADM to receive a second optical signal. The apparatus also includes a reconfigurable optical switch that includes a first switch, switchable between a first state and a second state, to transmit the first optical signal at the first state and block the first optical signal at the second state. The reconfigurable optical switch also includes a second switch, switchable between the first state and the second state, to transmit the second optical signal at the first state and block the second optical signal at the second state. The reconfigurable optical switch also includes an output port to transmit an output signal that is a sum of possible optical signals transmitted through the first switch and the second switch.

An apparatus includes a first reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) to receive a first optical signal and a second ROADM to receive a second optical signal. The apparatus also includes a reconfigurable optical switch that includes a first switch, switchable between a first state and a second state, to transmit the first optical signal at the first state and block the first optical signal at the second state. The reconfigurable optical switch also includes a second switch, switchable between the first state and the second state, to transmit the second optical signal at the first state and block the second optical signal at the second state. The reconfigurable optical switch also includes an output port to transmit an output signal that is a sum of possible optical signals transmitted through the first switch and the second switch.

A lighting apparatus is composed of optical fibers that are grouped at one end thereof in a bundle so as to optically couple to a common light source. A set of the optical fibers are configured to emit light transversely to the optical axis thereof to form an illumination region in a fiber optic panel. At least one sensor is coupled to at least one of the optical fibers in the bundle and generates an electrical signal in response to a physical phenomenon.

Embodiments described herein improve the performance of active sensing systems, such as LiDAR systems, and enable detection of objects closer to the system's sensor. Illustrative embodiments enable spatial separation of the excitation and return signal on a photonic integrated chip (PIC) such that separate waveguides can be used for the excitation and return signals, enabling isolation of the system's detectors from the excitation source without the use of a splitter or circulator. For example, preferred embodiments avoid loss due to the use of splitters and the need for gating the detector, and are desirably compatible with chip-scale systems. Moreover, illustrative embodiments enable keeping the excitation and detection paths on the same PIC (e.g. in an interleaved configuration), which helps keep the system more compact and avoid issues introduced by parallax.

An apparatus includes a first reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) to receive a first optical signal and a second ROADM to receive a second optical signal. The apparatus also includes a reconfigurable optical switch that includes a first switch, switchable between a first state and a second state, to transmit the first optical signal at the first state and block the first optical signal at the second state. The reconfigurable optical switch also includes a second switch, switchable between the first state and the second state, to transmit the second optical signal at the first state and block the second optical signal at the second state. The reconfigurable optical switch also includes an output port to transmit an output signal that is a sum of possible optical signals transmitted through the first switch and the second switch.

An optical switch includes a first optical absorbing layer sensitive to a first light and having a first superlattice structure and a first bandgap; a second optical absorbing layer sensitive to a second light and having a second bandgap smaller than that of the first bandgap; and a barrier layer having a second superlattice structure. The first optical absorbing layer, the second optical absorbing layer, and the barrier layer are arranged in a direction of an axis to form an arrangement with a first band-offset in a conduction band of the first optical absorbing layer, a second band-offset in a conduction band of the barrier layer, and a well in a conduction band of the second optical absorbing layer.

A passive optical circuit breaker includes a substrate and an optical waveguide assembly arranged relative to the substrate. The optical waveguide assembly includes a first optical waveguide portion having a first low-loss portion and a first high-loss portion, and a second optical waveguide portion having a second low-loss portion. The first low-loss portion and the second low-loss portion define a first optical path through the optical waveguide assembly, and optical energy directed through the first high-loss portion exceeding a prescribed threshold causes the first optical waveguide portion to physically deflect relative to the second optical waveguide portion and interrupt the first optical path through the optical waveguide assembly.

An optical switch comprises: a first optical absorbing layer sensitive to a first light, first optical absorbing layer including a first superlattice structure and having a first bandgap; a second optical absorbing layer sensitive to a second light, the second optical absorbing layer having a second bandgap smaller than that of the first bandgap; and a barrier layer including a second superlattice structure, the first optical absorbing layer, the second optical absorbing layer, and the barrier layer being arranged in a direction of a first axis to form an arrangement, the arrangement forming a first band-offset in a conduction band of the first optical absorbing layer, a second band-offset in a conduction band of the first optical absorbing layer, and a well in a conduction band of the second optical absorbing layer.

A method and apparatus are provided for detecting both an absence and a presence of a light beam moving in an optical fiber to determine the position of a component. The method is carried out by the apparatus which includes a plunger having first and second positions coordinated with first and second component positions respectively. The optical fiber is capable of having a light beam move in a first direction and of having the light beam move in a reverse direction in the optical fiber. A detector is provided for indicating the absence of the reverse direction of the light beam moving in the optical fiber and for indicating the presence of the light beam moving in the first direction in the optical fiber.