Polarization crosstalk dependence on length in silica-based waveguides measured by using optical low coherence interference

Author

Takada, Kazumasa ; Mitachi, Seiko

Author_Institution

NTT Opto-Electron. Labs., Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Ibaraki, Japan

Volume

16

Issue

8

fYear

1998

fDate

8/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1413

Lastpage

1422

Abstract

We describe a powerful method for precisely measuring polarization crosstalk dependence on length for birefringent waveguides which uses optical low coherence interference between excited and orthogonally coupled light waves. This method is applied to 10-m long silica-based waveguides with the total polarization crosstalks of 8.9×10^-3 and 7.5×10^-3. The spatial resolution is 10 cm and the measurement error for a waveguide part longer than 1 m is ⩽10%. A comparison of measured and theoretical crosstalk curves for the waveguides enables us to confirm that the bends in the waveguides are the main origin of the crosstalk. The polarization crosstalk per bent section is ~4×10^-5

Keywords

bending; birefringence; integrated optics; integrated optoelectronics; light polarisation; measurement errors; optical crosstalk; optical waveguides; silicon compounds; 1 m; bent section; birefringent waveguides; coherence interference; crosstalk curves; excited light waves; measurement error; optical low coherence interference; orthogonally coupled light waves; polarization crosstalk; polarization crosstalk dependence; silica-based waveguide length; spatial resolution; total polarization crosstalk; waveguide bends; Birefringence; Coherence; Interference; Length measurement; Optical coupling; Optical crosstalk; Optical polarization; Optical waveguide theory; Optical waveguides; Waveguide theory;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.704607

Filename

704607