How to Buy Optical Couplers: Some Important Things To Know

Optical coupler is a kind of semi-conductor device designed and meant to transfer electrical signals by using light waves to couple electrical isolations between circuits. There are different types of couplers and each caters to a certain purpose.

What is optical coupling?

Before going any further and talking about things like types of couplers, features or the best places to buy quality optical fused couplers in China and the likes, let us have a brief look at: What is optical coupling?.

Techopedia defines optical coupling as a method used to interconnect two devices to transfer an optical signal using light waves in the field of optoelectronics. It can be a simple connection between two optical cables using a device or a complex one that links two separate actions and make them dependent on one another.

In broader way, coupling can be thought of as any connection created between two devices using light waves. A good example is TV remote control.

Choosing an optical coupler

There is a wide range of couplers available in the market with different features. Take for example high performance fused-type mode-selective coupler which uses elliptical core two-mode fiber at 1550 nm.  This type of coupler provides unique functions and is perfect for the use in optical communication systems and sensors such as dispersion compensators, optical add-drop multiplexers, switches, and acousto-optic modulators and switches.

Photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) are among the most specialized optical couplers. The couplers are made with Photonic Crystal Fibers. There are two types of PCFs created using a group of silica tubes around a silica rod and drawing them. They are made by using the fused biconical tapered method.  A fiber with five hexagonally stacked layers of air holes can achieve a 33/67 coupling ratio while a fiber having one layer four holes is capable of obtaining a 48/52 coupling ratio.

If you are looking for low loss, durable and insensitive to ambient temperature variations, you should consider fused single mode fiber access couplers.  They are made by chemically etching most of the glass cladding material surrounding the fibre core, and thermally fusing the fibres together in the etched region.

Fused vertical couplers are a good option for the fabrication of switches. The couplers are made using wafer fusion for a short coupling length. Using the fused vertical coupler, planar waveguides can be fabricated on two different substrates and in a three-dimensional structure. Fused coupler is the best choice for crossbar switches.

So get to know what you need optical couplers for before you contact a supplier. You can also get custom couplers based on your needs. whether you are looking for high quality Optical Fused Coupler in china China  or specialized couplers like Photonic crystal fiber, DKphotonics will cater to your needs.