A single-polarization fiber

Abstract

We report an oPtical fiber which guides only one polarization. This fiber polarizer utilizes high modal birefringence ( <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">4.7 \times 10^{-4}</tex> ) to split the two polarizations of the fundamental mode and an ellipitcal depressed-index cladding to provide a steep wavelength-dependent tunneling loss to the fast axis mode. The stress-induced birefringence is created by an elliptical SiO <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> -B <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> O <inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> inner cladding. A 4.7-m length of polarizer fiber exhibits an extinction ratio of 34 dB at a wavelength of 633 nm, with polarizing behavior over a bandwidth of 50 nm. Insertion loss of less than 1 dB has been observed for the guided linear-polarization mode. The polarizing band may be shifted from 620 to 525 nm by bending the fiber to a radius of 0.67 cm. Such fiber polarizers should find a variety of applications in fiber sensors, attenuators, isolators, wavelength filters, and tuners.