Fiber optic communication system and fiber optic modulator

• US 5,351,318 A
• Filed: 04/05/1993
• Issued: 09/27/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Original Assignee: Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford Management Co.)
• Inventors: Kino, Gordon S., Howell, Michial D.
• Primary Examiner(s): FONT, FRANK G
• Application Number:
  US08/042,721
• Time in Patent Office: 540 Days
• Field of Search: 385/1-4, 385/7, 385/11, 385/12, 385/13, 385/14, 385/24, 385/27, 385/28, 385/39, 385/40
• US Class Current: 385/3
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/0134 in optical waveguides
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/532 Polarisation modulation

Abstract

A modulator adapted to be acoustically coupled to an optical fiber for applying acoustic waves across the fiber at a spatial and phase angle with respect to one another to compress and decompress the optical fiber at said spatial angle responsive to an electrical signal whereby to modulate the polarization state of an optical wave travelling past said modulator. An optical communication system in which light waves are transmitted from a transmitting end to a receiving end and whose polarization is modulated by an acoustic modulator responsive to an input signal and the output signal is demodulated to recover the signal.

Claims

1. A modulator responsive to an electrical signal for changing the polarization state of a light wave transmitted along an optical fiber in accordance with said electrical signal including:

first and second acoustic transducers for generating first and second acoustic waves, respectively;

means for acoustically coupling said first and second acoustic transducers to said optical fiber for causing the first and second acoustic waves to travel across said optical fiber to compress and decompress the optical fiber;

said first and second acoustic transducers positioned so that said first and second acoustic waves travel across said optical fiber at a nonzero spatial angle that is not an integer multiple of 90 degrees with respect to one another; and

means for exciting said first and second acoustic transducers with said electrical signal, said first and second acoustic transducers positioned and said electrical signal conditioned so that the first and second acoustic waves travel through the fiber with a predetermined nonzero phase relationship, said phase relationship being less than 180 degrees.

2. A modulator as in claim 1 wherein said first and second acoustic transducers are mounted on a substrate having substantially the same acoustical impedance as the optical fiber to couple the first and second acoustic transducers to the optical fiber.

3. A modulator as in claim 2 wherein the first and second acoustic transducers are equidistant from said optical fiber.

4. A modulator as in claim 1 wherein said spatial angle is substantially 45°

and said phase is substantially 90°

.

5. A modulator as in claim 3 wherein said first and second acoustic transducers are mounted at 45°

spatial angle with respect to one another and said electrical signal is applied to the first and second acoustic transducers with a 90°

phase shift.

6. In an optical communication system for transmitting an input signal from one location to another by modulating with said input signal light waves which travel along an optical fiber:

an optical fiber extending between said locations;

a modulator coupled to said optical fiber having first and second acoustic transducers adapted to be acoustically coupled to said optical fiber to apply first and second acoustic waves across the optical fiber at a spatial angle with respect to one another to each compress and decompress the optical fiber in a region of said optical fiber in response to said input signal, whereby to modulate the polarization of the light waves travelling along said optical fiber past said region, and

means for receiving said light wave having modulated polarization and generating an output signal representative of said input signal.

7. An optical communication system as in claim 6 including means for receiving said input and splitting said input signal into split signals which have a predetermined phase relationship and applying one split signal to one acoustic transducer and the other split signal to the other acoustic transducer.

8. An optical communication system as in claim 6 with means for extracting the output signal, using a fiber optic polarization controller to make the unmodulated output signal linearly polarized prior to application to an analyzer.

9. An optical communication system as in claim 6 with means for extracting the output signal by splitting the output signal into two parts with a fiber beam splitter, and placing analyzers at right angles in front of detectors following the two parts of the output signal, and adding the outputs of the detectors.

10. An optical communication system as in claim 6 with means for extracting the output signal by inserting the output signal from a single fiber into a polarizing beam splitter which splits the output signal into two parts, placing detectors on the two right-angled output faces of the polarizing beam splitter, and adding the outputs of the two detectors.

11. A modulator responsive to an electrical signal for changing the polarization state of a light wave transmitted along an optical fiber in accordance with said electrical signal including:

first and second acoustic transducers for generating first and second acoustic waves, respectively;

means for acoustically coupling said first and second acoustic transducers to said optical fiber for causing the first and second acoustic waves to travel across said optical fiber to compress and decompress the optical fiber, wherein said first and second acoustic transducers are mounted on a substrate having substantially the same acoustical impedance as the optical fiber to couple the first and second acoustic transducers to the optical fiber;

said first and second acoustic transducers positioned so that said first and second acoustic waves travel across said optical fiber at a spatial angle with respect to one another; and

means for exciting said first and second acoustic transducers with said electrical signal, said first and second acoustic transducers positioned and said electrical signal conditioned so that the first and second acoustic waves travel through the fiber with a predetermined phase relationship.

12. A modulator as in claim 11 wherein the first and second acoustic transducers are equidistant from said optical fiber.

13. A modulator responsive to an electrical signal changing the polarization state of a light wave transmitted along an optical fiber in accordance with said electrical signal including:

first and second acoustic transducers for generating first and second acoustic waves, respectively;

means for acoustically coupling said first and second acoustic transducers to said optical fiber for causing the first and second acoustic waves to travel across said optical fiber to compress and decompress the optical fiber;

said first and second acoustic transducers positioned so that said first and second acoustic waves travel across said optical fiber at a spatial angle of substantially 45 degrees with respect to one another; and

means for exciting said first and second acoustic transducers with said electrical signal, said first and second acoustic transducers positioned and said electrical signal conditioned so that the first and second acoustic waves travel through the fiber with a predetermined phase relationship of substantially 90 degrees.

14. A modulator as in claim 13 wherein said first and second acoustic transducers are mounted at45°

spatial angle with respect to one another and said electrical signal is applied to the first and second acoustic transducers with a 90°

phase shift.