Abstract

An all-fiber, narrowband, tunable polarization controller is proposed and demonstrated. The device is based on coherent acousto-optic mode coupling induced by two orthogonal acoustic waves on a dispersion-compensating fiber. The cooperative coupling between the two polarizations of the core mode and the ${\mathrm{TE}}_{01}$ cladding mode through the two gratings permits indirect coupling between the two polarizations of the core mode with nearly 100% efficiency, which makes the polarization-controlling function possible. Experimental results verify the operation of the polarization controller with an insertion loss of $<1 \mathrm{dB}$.

© 2004 Optical Society of America

Coherent acousto-optic mode coupling in dispersion- compensating fiber by two acoustic gratings with orthogonal vibration directions

P. Z. Dashti, Q. Li, C.-H. Lin, and H. P. Lee
Opt. Lett. 28(16) 1403-1405 (2003)

Fabrication of helical long-period fiber gratings by use of a CO₂ laser

Seungtae Oh, Kyung Rok Lee, Un-Chul Paek, and Youngjoo Chung
Opt. Lett. 29(13) 1464-1466 (2004)

Periodic microbending-induced core-to-cladding mode coupling in polarization-maintaining fibers

Chien-Hung Lin, Qun Li, and Henry P. Lee
Opt. Lett. 28(12) 998-1000 (2003)

Use of liquid-crystal-clad fiber as a modal filter for a two-mode fiber-optic interferometer

Tien-Jung Chen
Opt. Lett. 29(24) 2852-2854 (2004)

Analysis of a widely tunable long-period grating by use of an ultrathin cladding layer and higher-order cladding mode coupling

Kun-Wook Chung and Shizhuo Yin
Opt. Lett. 29(8) 812-814 (2004)