Polarization desensitized optical waveguide interferometer
US6757454B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 29, 2002 |
| Grant date | Jun 29, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 21, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02B2006/12159
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A low-cost, high-reliability polarization-independent optical waveguide interferometer is proposed which does not bring about any additional job involved in the insertion of a half-wave plate or excess loss of light. In an optical multi/demultiplexer utilizing optical interference of light waves passing through a plurality of optical waveguides with different lengths, such as an AWG and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, longitudinal integral values of birefringence values of the individual waveguides, which values are variable or invariable along the waveguides, are made equal for all waveguides 201 and 202. Thus, simply varying the waveguide width can implement polarization-independent operation, or on the contrary implement a polarization beam splitter. For example, the polarization-independent can be implemented by making the core widths, which are averaged in a longitudinal direction of a plurality of optical waveguides with different lengths, wider in a shorter optical waveguide, and narrower in a longer optical waveguide.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.