Tag: Polarization Maintaining Components

PM Isolator, Coupler, and Circulator- The 3 Important Polarization Maintaining Components

With time, the need for Polarization Maintaining Components is increasing in telecommunications and other related industries. And it’s because Polarization Maintaining Components make the process easy for these industries and deliver quality results. 

Years ago, only a few components were available. Manufacturers were not so aware and even the industry owners were not so keen. Things were going in the right direction with the limited Polarization Maintaining Components. But, today, things have changed and there are many Polarization Maintaining Components in the market, making the functioning and process easier for the industry owners. 

Products are many but some are commonly needed by the industry owners. A few names in this list are PM isolator, PM Coupler, and PM Circulator. In this post, we will discuss these Polarization Maintaining Components. 

PM isolator

In every PM isolator, you will find an optical fiber inside. The fiber inside is a thin strand made of pure glass. The isolator or the optical fiber inside it works on the “total internal reflection” principle. It acts as a guide for the light wave over long distances. The working of a PM isolator is very effective when the light waves try to pass between varying media. 

A PM isolator is used in different applications but majorly, it is used in communication systems, instrumentation applications, and polarization-maintaining fiber-optic amplifiers. Other than this, the PM isolator is used in fiberoptic system testing and fiber-optic LAN system, and CATV fiberoptic links. 

PM coupler

It’s a device used for combining or coupling light from two or more input fibers into one output fiber. The PM coupler consists of an input section at one end and an output section at another end. Simple to understand, a PM coupler converts input light from different fibers to a single output fiber. The process becomes simple. 

The biggest advantage of the PM coupler is that its output section comprises an optical fiber, which can be made in appropriate lengths and easily tapered. Due to this, this component can be used in two separate functional units. Other than this, a PM coupler has higher longevity and is affordable to all users. 

PM circulator

The role of a PM circulator is to separate optical power traveling in opposite directions in one optical fiber. Also, it is used to achieve bi-directional transmission over a single fiber. The PM circulator is highly suitable for use in advanced communication systems and fiber-optical sensor systems because of the high isolation between the input and reflected optical power and low insertion loss. 

Other than this, a PM circulator provides high reliability and excellent optical performance. This is why it is a Polarization Maintaining Component in telecommunications, fiber optic sensing, bio-medical, and photonics research. 

Contact DK Photonics to buy Polarization Maintaining Component

We are one of the leading manufacturers of Polarization Maintaining Components globally. We follow a strict manufacturing princess with advanced production equipment in an excellent production environment. This is why you will get good quality products with quick delivery. The best part is we customize the components on demand. 

What does polarization refer to in polarization maintaining components?

In polarization maintaining components, there is a huge rule of polarization as it influences the performance of these components, the quality of the signal transmitted across the network, and their desirability in certain applications. So, if you wonder about what this polarization means in optical fiber communication networks, this blog is a must-read for you.

What is the meaning of polarization in optical fiber communication?

A light beam is composed of two electrical vector field components that are orthogonal to each other. These components vary in terms of frequency and amplitude. We call a light beam polarized when these two components vary in amplitude (or phase).

Polarization in optical fibers has been extensively researched and studied, and now, we have a variety of ways to either minimize this polarization or maximize it to take advantage of polarization, depending on our requirements.

Meaning, in polarization maintaining components, components are designed using optical fibers to maintain polarization to take advantage of this phenomenon.

When talking about polarization, there is another term that you should know about for better understanding.

Birefringence

This phenomenon occurs in certain types of materials that can split a light beam into two different paths. It happens because these materials have different indices of refraction based on the polarization direction of the light. This phenomenon is also seen in optical fibers because of the slight asymmetry in the cross-section of the fiber core and external stresses exerted on fiber due to bending. In general, birefringence is induced more often by external stresses than the geometry of the fiber.

A specialty fiber that maintains polarization creates a consistent birefringence pattern along its length intentionally, and thereby prevents the coupling between two orthogonal polarization patterns. In any fiber design, the geometry of the fiber and materials used in the formation of fiber creates a lot of stress in one direction and hence produces higher birefringence as compared to the random one.

In the market, a number of designs with stress-inducing architectures, such as Panda and Bow Tie PM Fibers with different cut-off wavelengths are available for commercial use.  

Did you know polarization is characterized by some measurable properties? We have enlisted some of these properties below:

  • Extinction Ratio: It is expressed in dB and refers to the ratio of minimum polarized power and maximum polarized power.
  • Polarization Dependent Loss: Also expressed in dB, it is the maximum peak-to-peak variation in insertion loss.
  • Polarization Mode Dispersion: It is another form of material dispersion.

Since the fiber core is not perfectly circular in general and it is exposed to mechanical stresses that induce birefringence in the fiber, it causes one of the orthogonal polarization modes to travel faster than the other. This, in turn, causes dispersion of the optical pulse.

The maximum difference in the times of the mode propagation caused by dispersion is known as differential group delay, which is typically expressed in picoseconds.