US Patent 7499615 System and methods for routing optical signals

A system and methods for routing optical signals are disclosed. The system includes a first large core hollow waveguide having a reflective coating covering an interior of the waveguide and configured to guide a substantially collimated multi-mode coherent light beam. A second large core hollow waveguide with an interior reflective coating is coupled to the first waveguide with a coupling device. The coupling device is configured to redirect at least a portion of the coherent light beam from the first to the second waveguides through an optical path that is sufficiently short that a beam walk-off of the coherent light through the coupling device is less than half a width of the first large core hollow waveguide.