Forrest Mims many years ago described how to make
optical fiber transceivers in an article in Popular Electronics
using a simple technique. Push the point of a soldering iron
right through the lens, until you just barely touch the die.
Then, put in a drop of glue, and insert the fiber through
the glue. It turns out that an LED can be used both as
a light source and a light sensor.
I've heard that this article caused tremendous problems
for AT&T a few years later when they were trying to
patent certain key features of their optical telephone.
Mark Thorson is correct about my development of a 2-way communication system based on a single LED at each end of the link. I proposed this to Bell Labs, and they sent me an agreement that they would be in touch should they want to exploit the technology. A few years later, they announced this technology as their invention. They also filed for various patents on what was my invention. After making two trips to New Jersey to negotiate with them, they refused to honor their written agreement. The result was a lawsuit with a settlement in my favor. The story is told in my book "Siliconnections" (McGraw-Hill).
As for making a hole in an LED to receive an optical fiber, I don't recommend using a hot soldering iron. Instead, simply bore a hole into the top of an epoxy LED while using care to avoid the bonding lead that connects to the top of the chip. You can then insert the fiber with some appropriate cement.
Forrest M. Mims III
www.forrestmims.org
www.sunandsky.org
twitter.com/fmims
www.youtube.com/fmims
rpenner
28th August 2009 - 03:26 AM
Incredibly, I tend to believe the claims of the previous poster. It must a Christmas miracle.
We will be returning to my regular program of "Bah, humbug" as soon as technically possible.