An optical device includes an apparatus for laterally shifting an optical
beam. The optical device may be used in a focusing apparatus coupling an
optical beam from a source waveguide to a receiving waveguide. The device
may be an optical isolator that is mounted on supports that are slidably
engaged with one another. The engagement may be at curved surfaces, to
allow one support to rotate relative to the other. By rotating the
optical isolator, a beam from the source waveguide and focused through
the isolator may be selectively steered to couple it into the second
waveguide. Such beam steering may be useful where the second waveguide
has been misaligned from its optimum location. The beam steering may also
be used to correct for post-weld displacement, where a lens of the
focusing apparatus or other optical component has been misaligned during
assembly. By using a rotating isolator, instead of the common multi-lens
focusing apparatus, the coupling between source and receiving waveguides
is far less susceptible to device alignment shifts.