Compact voltage-controlled all-in-fiber polarization switches are designed and investigated based on dual-core photonic crystal fibers, by selectively infiltrating one of the fiber's cores with a nematic liquid crystal. The electro-optical control of the liquid crystal core's optical properties allows for the splitting of the two orthogonal polarizations, showing crosstalk values lower than -20 dB in a 40 nm window at 1550 nm, for an ultracompact length less than 0.6 mm. With proper selection of the control voltage and the component length, dual-band operation with a crosstalk lower than -20 dB is also demonstrated for the 1300 and 1550 nm telecom bands
Dual-band electro-optic polarization switch based on dual-core liquid-crystal photonic crystal fibers
2013
Abstract
Compact voltage-controlled all-in-fiber polarization switches are designed and investigated based on dual-core photonic crystal fibers, by selectively infiltrating one of the fiber's cores with a nematic liquid crystal. The electro-optical control of the liquid crystal core's optical properties allows for the splitting of the two orthogonal polarizations, showing crosstalk values lower than -20 dB in a 40 nm window at 1550 nm, for an ultracompact length less than 0.6 mm. With proper selection of the control voltage and the component length, dual-band operation with a crosstalk lower than -20 dB is also demonstrated for the 1300 and 1550 nm telecom bandsI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.