摘要:
The present invention relates to a Faraday rotator capable of reducing the temperature dependence on a Faraday rotation angle, thereby enhancing the temperature characteristic, particularly, in a service environment in which the magnetization direction is variable, and an optical device using the Faraday rotator. The Faraday rotator includes a Faraday element (33) which rotates the polarization plane of polarized light rays passing through the Faraday element when an external magnetic field is applied to the Faraday element. In this Faraday rotator, assuming that an angle between a magnetization direction of the Faraday element and a light ray direction is taken as α, the amount of the temperature-dependent change in Faraday rotation angle is reduced by applying the external magnetic field in a direction in which a first amount of the change in Faraday rotation angle due to the temperature dependence on the angle a and a second amount of the change in Faraday rotation angle due to the temperature dependence on the Faraday effect satisfy a relationship in which the sign of the first amount is plus or minus, the sign of the second amount is minus or plus, and the absolute value of one of the first and second amounts is less than twice the absolute value of the other amount, more preferably, substantially equal to the absolute value of the other amount.
摘要:
An optical device (4) has an optical element (54) having a first surface (54A) and a second surface (54B) not parallel to each other. The optical element separates a light beam (CB) supplied to the first surface (54A) into a first beam (CB1) reflected on the first surface (54A), a second beam (CB2) passed through the first surface (54A), reflected on the second surface (54B), and passed through the first surface (54) again, and a third beam (CB3) passed through the first surface (54A) and the second surface (54B) in this order. An optical filter (56) is provided to transmit the first and second beams (CB1,CB2). The optical filter (56) has wavelength characteristics different according to an incidence angle. The first and second beams (CB1,CB2) passed through the optical filter (56) are supplied to first and second photodetectors (60,62), respectively. On the basis of the difference in wavelength characteristic, the wavelength of the light beam (CB) can be monitored according to outputs from the first and second photodetectors (60,62).
摘要:
The present invention relates to an optical attenuator comprising first and second attenuator units cascaded on an optical path, and a control circuit connected to the first and second attenuator units. Each of the first and second attenuator units includes a Faraday rotator provided on the optical path. The Faraday rotator generates a Faraday rotation angle given as a function of wavelength. Each of the first and second attenuator units further includes polarizing unit for generating an attenuation determined by the Faraday rotation angle on the optical path. The control circuit, for example, controls the Faraday rotation angle in each of the first and second attenuator units so that a wavelength characteristic of attenuation in the first attenuator unit is substantially canceled by a wavelength characteristic of attenuation in the second attenuator unit. With this configuration, although each Faraday rotator generates a Faraday rotation angle given as a function of wavelength, a wavelength characteristic of total attenuation is substantially flattened by the operation of the control circuit.
摘要:
The present invention relates to a tunable optical filter having a variable wavelength characteristic of transmittance. The tunable optical filter includes first and second polarizers each having a transmission axis determining a polarization axis of transmitted polarized light, a birefringent element having an optic axis determining a phase difference given between two orthogonal components of transmitted polarized light, and a Faraday rotator for giving a variable Faraday rotation angle to transmitted polarized light. The birefringent element and the Faraday rotator are provided between the first and second polarizers. The order of arrangement of the birefringent element and the Faraday rotator, and the relative positional relation between the optic axis of the birefringent element and the transmission axis of each polarizer are set so that the shape of a characteristic curve giving a wavelength characteristic of transmittance changes along a transmittance axis according to a change in the Faraday rotation angle.
摘要:
An optical device having a function of an optical circulator of which forward losses are uniformly small wihle reverse losses are uniformly great. The optical device applicable to be used as an improved three-port optical circulator has three optical coupling units (30) connected optically to three ports (1,2,3) respectively, a reflecting unit (32) for giving a polarization plane rotation of 90° to an input beam, and a main polarization beam splitter (40) having a polarized-wave separating film (38) for optically connecting the optical coupling units (30) and the reflecting unit (32) through transmission and reflection. Each of the optical coupling units (30) comprises a subsidiary polarization beam splitter (46) and a polarization converter (48). The subsidiary polarization beam splitter (46) couples the relevant port (1,2,3) to first and second polarized beams perpendicular to each other. The polarization converter (48) converts the polarization state of one of the first and second polarized beams in such a manner that the first and second polarized beams are transmitted through or reflected by the polarized-wave separating film (38) in accordance with the directions of the beams.