摘要 |
A star-coupler (10) and a method for constructing the star-coupler employing injection molding technology are disclosed. The star-coupler (10) may be constructed from a single injection molded block or a plurality of mating sections (110, 120), and is supplied with a plurality of input ports (12, 14, 16, 18) and a plurality of output ports (22, 24, 26, 28). Each input port as well as each output port is connected to at least one channel. The channels (13, 15, 17, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29) are filled with a fiber optical core material and the single block or mating sections are fabricated from fiber optical core material. Alternatively, a separate cladding material may be coated on surfaces of the block or mating sections (110, 120) which define the channels. Optical signals are guided and confined by the core and cladding material from input ports (12, 14, 16, 18) to output ports (22, 24, 26, 28) along the channels (13, 15, 17, 19, 23, 25, 27, 29). |