Abstract

We report the first optical fiber which guides only one polarization. This fiber polarizer utilizes high birefringence to split the two polarizations of the fundamental mode and a cladding structure which attenuates one polarization by tunneling. The fiber is one of a class of recently proposed single-polarization fibers^1-3 as opposed to earlier fiber polarizers which require polishing a section of fiber followed by metal coating⁴ or matching to a birefringent crystal.⁵

© 1983 Optical Society of America