Abstract

Polarization-induced fading is an important problem which affects both coherent communications and interferometric sensor systems. In coherent communications, several schemes have been used to overcome the effect, including automatic polarization tracking [1] and polarization diversity detection schemes [2]. In interferometric sensors, polarization induced fading and input polarization-induced phase-noise [3,4] are problems which may affect the practical applicability of these sensors in a number of areas. Here also, various polarization control and diversity schemes have been devised to overcome the effect. Recent work by Pistoni and Martinelli [5] has demonstrated a technique for the compensation of birefringence effects in a length of fiber which is retraced by an optical beam. The basis of operation of the technique is the use of a ‘Faraday rotator mirror’ (FRM) to reflect the optical signal back along the fiber path. Potentially, this is a very useful technique for providing passive, polarization-independent operation of a fiber interferometer based on a reflective configuration. This paper reports the demonstration of such a system using a Michelson interferometer configuration.

© 1991 Optical Society of America