Compact acoustooptic high-speed variable attenuator for high-power applications

Author

Mughal, M.J. ; Riza, N.A.

Author_Institution

Nuonics Inc., Orlando, FL, USA

Volume

14

Issue

4

fYear

2002

fDate

4/1/2002 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

510

Lastpage

512

Abstract

For the first time, a >65-dB dynamic range fast 2.8 μs fiber-optic variable optical attenuator is proposed and demonstrated by using a single bulk acoustooptic device. The unique double-pass optical design eliminates intrinsic acoustooptic interaction-based Doppler shift, while a center path positioned halfwave plate greatly reduces polarization dependent loss to 0.03 dB. The current attenuator´s insertion loss is <2.5 dB with a demonstrated 1520-1600 nm operation. Due to its bulk crystal nature, this attenuator can handle high power optical beams.

Keywords

acousto-optical devices; attenuators; high-speed optical techniques; optical fibres; optical losses; optical waveguide components; 0.03 dB; 1520 to 1600 nm; 2.5 dB; 2.8 mus; Bragg cell; acoustooptic high-speed variable attenuator; center path positioned halfwave plate; double-pass optical design; dynamic range; fiber-optic variable optical attenuator; high power optical beams; high-power applications; high-power lasers; insertion loss; intrinsic acoustooptic interaction-based Doppler shift elimination; polarization dependent loss; single bulk acoustooptic device; Acoustooptic devices; Doppler shift; Dynamic range; Insertion loss; Optical attenuators; Optical beams; Optical design; Optical fiber devices; Optical fiber polarization; Optical losses;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.992594

Filename

992594