Inline optical fiber attentuator
US4529262A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 9, 1983 |
| Grant date | Jul 16, 1985 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 9, 2003 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/0134
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An inline single-mode fiber attenuator (10) is disclosed which may be formed by a tandem combination of a birefringent polarization-preserving fiber (12) and a single polarization fiber (14). The birefringent fiber functions as a variable wave plate and the single polarization fiber functions as a fiber polarizer. By continuously changing the local birefringence of the birefringent fiber with, for example, tension, pressure, or temperature, the phase difference between the two polarization components of light traveling through the birefringent fiber is continuously modified. The difference in phase causes suppression of one of the polarization components as it enters the fiber polarizer and, therefore, the output of the fiber polarizer, the sum of the two polarizations, is attenuated. The attenuator may be tuned by changing the local birefringence of the birefringent fiber. An inline optical fiber bandpass filter may be formed by cascading a plurality of appropriately arranged inline fiber attenuators formed in accordance with the present invention.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.