Abstract:
It has been found that when a pulsed high-power laser beam is incident on the surfaces of a wide variety of materials, ripples are produced on such surface. This is due to interference between scattered waves and the incident beam producing intensity fringes, and hence localized heating. The dimensions of the ripples are dependent on the wavelngth of the incident light. This is used to produce permanent (after cooling) gratings on the outer surface of an optical waveguide, for example an optical fibre, on to which a laser beam is focussed by a lens system. Hence a grating whose length is a few hundreds of micrometers is produced. If the cladding is removed this effect of ripple generation is enhanced.
Abstract:
The evolution of particulate material from the inner surface of a tubular zirconia susceptor while fibre is drawn from preform is inhibited by providing that surface with a glassy finish by laser-beam fusion.
Abstract:
A single mode fiber expanded beam termination is formed by fusion splicing an undoped (pure) silica rod to a single mode fiber. The length of the rod controls the expanded beam diameter, and forms a lens on the free end of the undoped silica rod to collimate an output beam.
Abstract:
A regenerator for an undersea optical transmission system has a timing extraction circuit for extracting the clock signal from an NRZ PCM signal. The circuit comprises a surface acoustic wave filter (F) which feeds an amplifier which comprises a number of similar cascaded amplifier sections provided by an integrated circuit. The first stage is a grounded base stage (stage 1) and the following sections each include a balanced emitter-follower buffer stage (stage 2) and a balanced long-tailed pair stage (stage 3). Any base and emitter voltages in an amplifier section are minimised if not eliminated by the long-tailed pair having equal emitter and collector loads.
Abstract:
A receiver for modulated optical signals including a multiport optical fibre coupler arrangement (10) to one input port of which the modulated optical signals are applied and to another input port of which a local oscillator optical signal of substantially the same optical frequency as the modulated optical signal is applied whereby the output ports of the coupler give separate output signals that are differentially related to the optical frequency phase difference between the modulated input signal and the local oscillator signal, means for individually demodulating (12a-12c) the output signals and means for summing the demodulated output signals.
Abstract:
An arrangement for the demodulation of auxiliary low frequency channels in digital transmission systems comprising means (12) for receiving the transmitted signals, linear amplification means (13) with automatic gain control (AGC) (14) for the received signals, non linear discrimination means (15) for discriminating between logic levels in the amplified digital signals at the main channel bit rate, and subtraction means (16) for subtracting the output of the discrimination means from the amplified signals to obtain the auxiliary low frequency channel signals.
Abstract:
In an optical transmission system, particularly a submerged system, a line finding system is provided which, in the event of a fault somewhere along the system, enables the remaining operative lines or paths to take over the traffic and thus "steer around" the fault. The laser sources of the submerged repeaters and switched by electrical selection at their input using failed clock or a supervisory signal to achieve the switching.
Abstract:
A dielectric composition including a ternary system comprising non-stoichiometric lead magnesium niobate, non-stoichiometric lead zinc niobate and non-stoichiometric lead iron niobate, and a small amount of one or more oxide additives which serves to reduce the tan .delta. value in comparison with the ternary system alone. The one or more additives may be chosen from the group consisting of nickel oxide, stoichiometric lead nickel niobate, ceric oxide, lead oxide, zirconium oxide, silver oxide, manganese dioxide, lanthanum oxide and cobalt oxide. Compositions with firing temperatures in the range 950.degree. to 1100.degree. C. have dielectric constants in the range 10700 to 16600 (at 20.degree. C.) making the composition particularly useful for high silver content multilayer ceramic capacitors.
Abstract:
For a voltage follower unity gain amplifier, used, for instance, as a buffer in a transceiver associated with a data bus, the input signal is fed forward to a comparator (T2-T3) to which the output is also applied. The input is also applied via an amplifier stage (T5-T6) to a transistor (T4) in the commoned circuit of the comparator, which is a long-tailed pair. Thus, with a connection from the output of the circuit which includes another transistor (T9), provides negative feedback round the comparator, gives a highly stable current.