Optical circulator
US5574596A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 16, 1995 |
| Grant date | Nov 12, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 16, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B5/3083
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The optical circulator according to the present invention comprises two birefringent crystal end-plates, non-reciprocal Faraday rotators inserted between birefringent crystal plates, and a pair of matched birefringent crystal plates disposed between the rotators. The first birefringent crystal end-plate functions as a dividing and combining means for dividing a beam into two beams of orthogonal electric field vectors from different paths into one on the same path. The pair of matched birefringent crystal plates serve as beam path determining means shifting a beam to a different direction depending on the direction of the electric field vector and the propagation. The pair of crystal plates are substantially identical but oppositely oriented, such that the pair of means have opposite beam shifted directions.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.