Fiber optic polarizer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A fiber optic polarizer comprising:
- a substrate;
an optical fiber bound in said substrate, said fiber having a selected portion thereof coplanar with a first surface of said substrate;
a multilayer stack of at least two alternating first and second layers in which said first layer is of a first material and said second layer is of a second material, and in which said alternating layers have a selected thickness, and in which said stack is in optical contact with said selected portion of said fiber to permit waves passing through said fiber to interact with said multilayer stack; and
said first and second materials are comprised of a dielectric material and a metal, respectively, and said first and second layer materials and thickness are selected to permit differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations of light passing through said fiber.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In the present invention, a multilayer stack of alternating layers of a metal and a dielectric is deposited directly onto the surface of an optical fiber that has been processed to remove the cladding from one side of the fiber. The multilayer metal-dielectric structure is constructed to give high birefringence and large differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations.
55 Citations
24 Claims
-
1. A fiber optic polarizer comprising:
-
a substrate; an optical fiber bound in said substrate, said fiber having a selected portion thereof coplanar with a first surface of said substrate; a multilayer stack of at least two alternating first and second layers in which said first layer is of a first material and said second layer is of a second material, and in which said alternating layers have a selected thickness, and in which said stack is in optical contact with said selected portion of said fiber to permit waves passing through said fiber to interact with said multilayer stack; and said first and second materials are comprised of a dielectric material and a metal, respectively, and said first and second layer materials and thickness are selected to permit differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations of light passing through said fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
- 12. A fiber optic polarizer comprising an optical fiber having a core bounded by a cladding, and a portion of said cladding being comprised of a stack of alternating first and second layers comprised of a dielectric material and a metal, respectively, and said first and second layer materials and thickness are selected to permit differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations of light passing through said fiber.
-
19. A method of making a fiber optic polarizer comprising;
-
bounding an optical fiber in a substrate such that said fiber is curved and has a selected radius of curvature. grinding said substrate and said optical fiber to provide a substrate surface which is coplanar with a selected portion of said optical fiber; depositing on said selected portion a multilayer stack of alternating first and second layers comprised of a metal and a dielectric, respectively and in which each of said alternating layers have a selected thickness. - View Dependent Claims (20)
-
-
21. A fiber optic polarizer for receiving an optical input signal having an arbitrary polarization and providing an optical output signal having substantially only a single selected polarization, comprising:
-
a length of optical fiber having a core and a cladding surrounding the core; a multilayer stack of at least two alternating first and second layers in which said first layer is of a first material and said second layer is of a second material, and in which said alternating layers have a selected thickness, and in which said stack is in optical communication with said core to permit waves passing through said fiber to interact with said multilayer stack; and said first and second materials are comprised of a dielectric material and a metal, respectively, and said first and second layer materials and thickness are selected to permit differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations of said optical input signal passing through said fiber. - View Dependent Claims (22)
-
-
23. A polarizer for receiving an optical input signal having an arbitrary polariztion and providing an optical output signal having substantially only a single selected polarization, comprising:
-
an optical waveguide having a core; a multilayer stack of at least two alternating first and second layers in which said first layer is of a first material and said second layer is of a second material, and in which said alternating layers have a selected thickness, and in which said stack is in optical communication with said core to permit waves passing through said waveguide to interact with said multilayer stack; and said first and second materials are comprised of a dielectric material and a metal, respectively, and said first and second layer materials and thickness are selected to permit differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations of said optical input signal passing through said waveguide. - View Dependent Claims (24)
-
Specification