Optical transmitter

• US 6,333,803 B1
• Filed: 01/25/1999
• Issued: 12/25/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oplink Technology, Inc. (KOCH Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Furukawa Electric Company Limited
• Inventors: Kurotori, Katsuya, Ogoshi, Haruki
• Primary Examiner(s): NEGASH, KINFE MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US09/202,525
• Time in Patent Office: 1,065 Days
• Field of Search: 359/156, 359/180, 359/181, 359/188, 359/160, 359/122, 359/134
• US Class Current: 398/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/50 Transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/506 Multiwavelength transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2210/258 treating each wavelength or wavelength band separately

Abstract

An optical transmitter provided with a supercontinuum light source 4 which is composed of an optical amplifier 2 made by using a polarization maintaining amplification fiber 1 and a polarization maintaining fiber 3 which has a length of at least a specified value, is connected to the output side of the optical amplifier 2 and emits light having a continuous wave and a stable plane of polarization, a polarization maintaining optical demultiplexer 5 which takes out a light with a desired wavelength from the continuous wave light, and an external modulator 6 which superposes desired information upon the light with the desired wavelength.

Claims

1. An optical transmitter comprising:

a supercontinuum light source, which is composed of an optical amplifier made by using a polarization maintaining amplification fiber and a polarization maintaining fiber which has a length of at least a specified value, connected to the output side of the optical amplifier and emitting light having a continuous wave and a stable plane of polarization;

an optical demultiplexer of polarization maintaining type which filters out a light with a desired wavelength from the continuous-wave light; and

an external modulator which superposes desired information upon the light with the desired wavelength, wherein

the polarization maintaining amplification fiber of the supercontinuum light source and the polarization maintaining fiber are connected so that their axes of the planes of polarization coincide.

2. The optical transmitter according to claim 1, wherein the polarization maintaining amplification fiber and/or polarization maintaining optical fiber are/is of a dispersion shift type or a dispersion flat type.

3. The optical transmitter according to claim 1, wherein continuous light is inputted as source light to the supercontinuum light source.

4. The optical transmitter according to claim 2, wherein continuous light is inputted as source light to the supercontinuum light source.

5. The optical transmitter according to claim 1, wherein light other than single frequency light is inputted as source light to the supercontinuum light source.

6. The optical transmitter according to claim 2, wherein light other than single frequency light is inputted as source light to the supercontinuum light source.

7. The optical transmitter according to claim 3, wherein light other than single frequency light is inputted as source light to the supercontinuum light source.

8. The optical transmitter according to claim 4, wherein light other than single frequency light is inputted as source light to the supercontinuum light source.