Patent attributes
The present invention is provided to obtain an inexpensive bidirectional optical module wherein a diffraction efficiency can be maximized at different diffraction order for light beam with different wavelength, and light usage efficiency is enhanced. The bidirectional optical module includes a light-emitting element for transmitting an optical signal toward an end of an optical fiber; a light-receiving element for receiving an optical signal from the end of the optical fiber; and a grating in which stair shapes are repeated with a predefined pitch. In the bidirectional optical module, a phase function is defined as phase-difference contour lines which is formed by making two light fluxes from predetermined positions interfere with each other on a surface arranged at a position of the grating. A planar pitch of the grating is formed such that values of the phase function form phase contour lines each representing an integer multiple of 360 degrees.
