Patent · US Expired

Compact polarization couplers

US6560378B1 · kind B1 · utility

2Cited by
2References
16Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 2, 2001
Grant dateMay 6, 2003
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 2, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG02B6/2773
  • WIPO fieldOptics
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

The present invention, generally speaking, provides compact design of optical couplers for combining two differently polarized light beams onto a collimator or splitting a composed light beam into two differently polarized light beams. According to another embodiment, the size of the polarization beam combiner is minimized by using a pair of specially designed fiber collimators that use an asymmetrical sleeve. As a result, a coupler, according to the present invention, uses less components, is of small in size and provides an easy-aligning structure. Further the coupler offers lower optical insertion loss with minimized physical size.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.