Optical Depolarizers and DGD Generators Based on Optical Delay
First Claim
1. A device, comprising:
- a polarization beam splitter (PBS) to receive an input optical beam with a coherent length and to split the input optical beam into a first beam and a second beam polarized orthogonal to said first beam;
a first reflector positioned relative to said PBS to reflect said first beam back to said PBS;
a first polarization element located between said first reflector and said PBS to rotate a polarization of a reflection of said first beam at said PBS to be perpendicular to said first beam when initially exiting said PBS;
a second reflector positioned relative to said PBS to reflect said second beam back to said PBS; and
a second polarization element located between said second reflector and said PBS to rotate a polarization of a reflection of said second beam at said PBS to be perpendicular to said second beam when initially exiting said PBS, wherein said first and said second reflectors are positioned to produce a difference in optical paths of said first and said second beams upon being reflected back to said PBS that is greater than said coherent length.
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Abstract
Techniques and devices for depolarizing light and producing a variable differential group delays in optical signals. In one implementation, an input optical beam is split into first and second beams with orthogonal polarizations. One or two optical reflectors are then used to cause the first and second optical beams to undergo different optical path lengths before they are recombined into a single output beam. An adjustment mechanism may used implemented to adjust the difference in the optical path lengths of the first and second beams to produce a variable DGD. When the depolarization of light is desired, the difference in the optical path lengths of the first and second beams is set to be greater than the coherence length of the input optical beam.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A device, comprising:
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a polarization beam splitter (PBS) to receive an input optical beam with a coherent length and to split the input optical beam into a first beam and a second beam polarized orthogonal to said first beam; a first reflector positioned relative to said PBS to reflect said first beam back to said PBS; a first polarization element located between said first reflector and said PBS to rotate a polarization of a reflection of said first beam at said PBS to be perpendicular to said first beam when initially exiting said PBS; a second reflector positioned relative to said PBS to reflect said second beam back to said PBS; and a second polarization element located between said second reflector and said PBS to rotate a polarization of a reflection of said second beam at said PBS to be perpendicular to said second beam when initially exiting said PBS, wherein said first and said second reflectors are positioned to produce a difference in optical paths of said first and said second beams upon being reflected back to said PBS that is greater than said coherent length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method, comprising:
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splitting an input optical beam at an input location into first and second beams with orthogonal polarizations; using at least one reflector to reflect the first input beam along a first optical path that is different from a second optical path of the second beam with different optical path lengths; and combining the first and second beams from the first and second optical paths at a common location to produce a single output beam. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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Specification