Polarization plane switch and optical switching device using the same
US5521741A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 21, 1995 |
| Grant date | May 28, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 21, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/093
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A polarization plane switch comprising a Faraday rotator made of an iron-containing garnet single-crystal film and magnetic field applying devices capable of reversing a magnetic field to be applied to the Faraday rotator. The polarization plane switch has a structure in which magnetization of part of the Faraday rotator is unsaturated and that of the remaining portion of it is saturated when a magnetic field is applied to the Faraday rotator by the magnetic field applying device, and a light beam passes through the magnetically saturated portion almost vertically to the film surface. As the above Faraday rotator, it is the most preferable to use a Faraday rotator made of Bi-substituted iron garnet single crystal formed by liquid-phase epitaxy and having a compensation temperature, and thermally treated under the top condition at a temperature between 1,120.degree. and 1,180.degree. C. for 7 hours or less.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.