Polarization mixer based on walk-off crystals, half-wave plates and tec fibers

摘要

An optical subassembly and a method for mixing polarization components of light signals utilize an arrangement of walk-off crystals and half-wave plates. The optical subassembly can serve as a building block for fabricating a variety of optical devices, such as optical circulators, switches and filters. Preferably, the optical subassembly is utilized in conjunction with optical fibers having thermally expanded cores. The optical elements of the subassembly are arranged such that the optical subassembly is able to separate polarization components of two light beams and recombine them to form two new light beams. Each new light beam is formed by combining one polarization component of the first original light beam with a polarization component of the other original light beam. Various arrangements of walk-off crystals and half-wave plates can be utilized to construct the optical subassembly in accordance with the invention. By attaching the optical subassembly with another optical assembly, an optical device can be fabricated.