Waveguide polarization-independent optical circulator

Author

Sugimoto, N. ; Shintaku, T. ; Tate, A. ; Terui, H. ; Shimokozono, M. ; Kubota, E. ; Ishii, M. ; Inoue, Y.

Author_Institution

NTT Opto-Electron. Labs., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

11

Issue

3

fYear

1999

fDate

3/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

355

Lastpage

357

Abstract

We fabricated a new type of waveguide polarization-independent optical circulator which does not need a polarization-beam splitter. The circulator is based on a non-reciprocal Mach-Zehnder interferometer which consists of two waveguide Faraday rotators, two thin-film half-waveplates and two planar lightwave circuit-type 3-dB couplers. The fabricated circulator provides a 14.0-23.7-dB isolation and a 3.0-3.3 dB insertion loss at /spl lambda/=1.55 μm. This circulator presents a new possibility for developing non-reciprocal devices in the field of integrated optics.

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; magneto-optical devices; optical circulators; optical elements; optical fabrication; optical losses; optical planar waveguides; 1.55 mum; 3 to 3.3 dB; fabrication; insertion loss; integrated optics; isolation; nonreciprocal Mach-Zehnder interferometer; nonreciprocal devices; planar lightwave circuit-type couplers; thin-film half-waveplates; waveguide Faraday rotators; waveguide polarization-independent optical circulator; Couplers; Insertion loss; Integrated optics; Optical interferometry; Optical losses; Optical planar waveguides; Optical polarization; Optical waveguides; Planar waveguides; Thin film circuits;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/68.748233

Filename

748233