Tag: Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator

In simple terms, an optical circulator is a fiber optic device with three or four ports designed in a way that the light entering from any port exits from the next port. This implies that if a light wave enters from port 1, it emits from port 2; however, if some fraction of the emitted light wave is reflected back to the circulator, it exits from the port 3 rather than coming out of port 1. This working is analogous with the working of an electronic circulator.

Fiber optic circulators are used to separate optical signals traveling in opposite directions in an optical fiber. They are commonly used for bi-directional transmission over a single fiber. But, there are polarization insensitive optical circulators in the market which are gaining high popularity in electronics and telecommunication industry. What are these? How are they different from ordinary ones? Let’s check out.

Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulators

This special type of optical circulator is a non-reciprocal fiber optic device that routes incoming light wave from any port to the next and sends the rejected part of the light wave to third port instead of the first port.

Here, non-reciprocal means that if there is any change in the property of the light wave caused by traveling through the fiber, it will not reverse by traveling in the opposite direction.

It is a compact high performance light wave component which functions similar to an isolator. It protects the input fiber from returning power and also allows the rejected/reflected light to be employed.

The benefit of using these optical circulators is that they are bestowed with high isolation, low insertion loss, low polarization dependent loss (PDL) and various other remarkable features.

As these circulators are polarization insensitive, they are highly desirable in a variety of applications. For instance, linearly polarized beams with different polarization states and polarization multiplexed beams are extensively used in optical telecommunication systems where the use of polarization sensitive circulators is extremely limited.

They find their wide usage in a number of applications such as fiber gratings and other reflective components in DWDM systems, bi-directional communication systems, dispersion compensation, wavelength add/drop, high speed systems, EDFA applications, optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) measurements, etc.

Polarization insensitive optical circulators are available in multifarious specifications, however, if available specifications are not suitable for your applications, you can also order custom optical circulators.

Salient Features:

• High isolation
• Low insertion loss
• Low polarization distribution loss
• Excellent stability
• Superior reliability
• Optimum performance

General Applications:

• Optical fiber amplifier
• Fiber optic sensor
• DWDM systems
• Pump laser source
• Instrumentation
• Test and measurement
• Optical communication systems
• Fiber Gratings

If you also have a requirement for polarization insensitive optical circulators in standard or customized specifications, contact today one of the reputed optical circulator manufacturers.

Each optical circulator is a generalized isolator which has three ports or sometimes more. Where an isolator causes the loss in the direction of isolation, a circulator gathers the light and redirects it to an output port which is nonreciprocal.

If I talk about a three-port circulator with non-strict-sense, this type of circulator has significance use in telecommunication applications because it is not necessary that the light should travel back from port 3 to port 1. For example, the light reflected from a fiber Bragg grating requires to be separated from the input light without loss, but since optical links are not operated in reverse only, there’s no requirement of strict-sense behavior.

An optical circulator is a special kind of fiber optic device which can separate optical power traveling in one single optical fiber in opposite directions. A polarization insensitive optical circulator can be used here to get bi-directional transmission of power over a single fiber. This circulator is majorly used in modern communication systems and advanced fiber-optical sensor systems due to its high isolation between the input power and reflected optical power and its lower loss of insertion.

A majority of online suppliers offer three or four-port optical circulators with;

Standard 1310nm or 1550nm windows

Or sometimes a wider range of wavelength from S to L band

Some of the manufacturers can also provide customized circulators on special requests with providing different wavelength, for instance, 1030nm, 1050nm, or 1040nm can be requested.

Though the standard power handling of this kind of a circulator is 300mW (CW), in the market, circulators are also available with power handling 1000mW, 2000mW, and 500mW (CW).

Here, a buyer requires being fully aware of the requirements of the application before choosing one.

Features

Low Insertion Loss

Low PDL

Wide Band, High Isolation

Epoxy Free Optical Path

Compact In-line Package

High Stability and Reliability

Easy mounting

The polarization insensitive optical circulators are often easily mounted to optical tables and can withstand various handlings. The use of four strong magnets helps to hold the rugged package securely on surfaces. Another mounting option is to wisely use tow countersunk holes with having some space in-between, in order to achieve compatibility with mounting patterns of optical tables.

Major Applications

Optical Amplifier

Fiber Sensors

Add-Drop Filters

Bi-Directional Communications

Metro Area Network

Digital, Hybrid, and AM-Video System

Wavelength Add / Drop

Dispersion Compensation

EDFAs

The online market is actually full of such optical circulators and buyers can place an order for customized circulators too, for instance, pigtailed versions of circulators would be perfect if an application requires a fiber with extended length on the circulator’s input and output.

Once you go online you will find that there are several suppliers of these optical circulators. You require making a decision on which one you should choose to shop. Apart from that, gather complete information about the application’s requirements and then decide which one you should buy.

There are many brands in China making a wide range of optic fibers or circulators – a crucial device widely used for electronic applications. What that makes it a bit complex to choose the best one (optical circulator) is that all of them claim to offer high quality products for the most competitive prices. To help you with that, here we have curated a list of some tips that are very effective and anyone can apply them to select optical circulator.

 Tips to Choose an Optical Circulator

Look for all the options

 There are many options that you will find in China when it comes to optic fibers. For example Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator one of the most widely used optic fibers for a wide range of electronic applications. The circulator is packed with host of features. If you are looking for an option that is durable, affordable and provide high quality performance, Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator is what you must consider.

 Check after sales support

Whatever option you choose, make sure the supplier you buy your Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator provides a good sale support. So when you have any problem with the product, you do not need to hire a technician. You can call to the supplier who will provide the right assistance to solve your problem. So buying Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator from such a supplier saves you a chunk of money you need to pay for hiring a technician.

The suitability of the fiber to your device

As optic fibers come with different features, and so are suitable for some certain types of devices, it is vitally important to make sure the Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator you buy is compatible with your device.

Compatibility

Types of fiber optic transceivers are getting richer, but the compatibility between different types has a great impact on the quality of network. It should be known that this product is designed to meet related international standards. Because. The circulators meeting international standards have no issues of compatibility.

Temperature adaptation

The temperature which is generated inside fiber optic transceivers is low, but as they are used in the Switches and computer room, the temperature fluctuates. It may get higher or lower. Too high or too low temperature adversely affects the parameters, for example optical power, optical sensitivity, etc. Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator seems a best choice in this case. It is highly sensitive to fluctuation in power, and quickly adapts to the temperature.

 When you need to buy optic fibers, follow these tips that will surely profoundly help you choose the right circulator for you.

The ‘optocirculator’ commonly known as optical circulator is the circulator which is majorly used for optical communication. It is actually similar to the isolator but, optical Isolator is used to insert resistance to the reverse signal with loss of insertion whereas, optical circulator directs the light to one port and diverts it out to the non-reciprocal port. Isolator typically has 2 ports only while circulator has 3 to 4 ports.

Originally, polarization insensitive optical circulators were used in telecommunication systems in order to increase the capacity of transmission of existing networks. The Utilization of these circulators in a bi-directional transmission system can double the network’s transmission capacity without deploying extra fibers, earlier, this task was very expensive without optical circulators.

However, the uses of optical circulators have greatly expanded in not only the telecommunication sector but also the imaging and sensing industries with the quick and great advancement in optical communication technologies and the wide availability of high-performance circulators at lower costs. Optical circulators have now become a vital element in advanced optical networks.

Typical Specifications for Optical Circulator:

• Grade type (P or A)
• Number of Ports (3 or 4 ports)
• Insertion loss (0.6/0.8) over +/- 20 nm bandwidth
• Central Wavelength (1310nm or 1550nm)
• Directivity (60 dB)
• Power handling limit (300 mW)
• Isolation (min.40dB)
• Return Loss (60 dB)
• PDL (0.1 dB)
• WDL (0.2 dB)
• PMD (0.1 ps)

Optical circulators are intensively powerful devices that are generally used to extract optical signals from a reflective device. In this manner, optical circulators are regularly utilized related to the fiber Bragg gratings that are ordinarily reflective devices. Together with fiber Bragg gratings, optical circulators have turned out to be one of the vital components in advanced DWDM optical systems. Circulators are utilized as MUX/DEMUX systems, but at the same time are utilized in dispersion compensation with the fiber Bragg grating, tunable optical Add/Drop, and other different applications.

The idea has been adapted into different devices, such as replacing the coupler and erbium-doped fiber with a dispersion compensation fiber to reduce the required fiber length and adding a Faraday rotator in-between the fiber and mirror in order to reduce the polarization-induced effects. Also, bi-directional fiber amplifiers are also proposed for taking full advantage of the polarization insensitive optical circulator.

With the improvement in advanced optical systems, the uses of optical circulators are extending quickly and new uses and applications are rising rapidly. For instance, as of late it has been accounted that by including wavelength-specific capacities into circulators, a bi-directional wavelength-subordinate circulator can be arranged, which opens another measurement of uses in the advanced DWDM optical systems.

These circulators are widely used for several other applications and this why they are extensively available at the stores as well as online. Due to increase in demand, there are thousands of manufacturers and millions of suppliers of optical circulators all around the world.