CN102243339A - Optical isolator - Google Patents
Optical isolator Download PDFInfo
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- CN102243339A CN102243339A CN2011101852289A CN201110185228A CN102243339A CN 102243339 A CN102243339 A CN 102243339A CN 2011101852289 A CN2011101852289 A CN 2011101852289A CN 201110185228 A CN201110185228 A CN 201110185228A CN 102243339 A CN102243339 A CN 102243339A
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- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 title claims abstract description 33
- 230000010287 polarization Effects 0.000 claims description 22
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 claims description 4
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 abstract description 30
- 238000002955 isolation Methods 0.000 abstract description 20
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 abstract description 6
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 10
- 239000013078 crystal Substances 0.000 description 6
- 238000002474 experimental method Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000001934 delay Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000013307 optical fiber Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000004088 simulation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000005094 computer simulation Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003111 delayed effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010453 quartz Substances 0.000 description 1
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon dioxide Inorganic materials O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000006467 substitution reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
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Abstract
The invention discloses an optical isolator which comprises a wave plate, wherein the wave plate is arranged aslant relative to incident light so that the incident light is avoided from vertically entering. Aiming at the influence of a reflecting light ray at the front end face of the isolator to a semiconductor laser, the wave plate is aslant used, thus the isolation effect of the optical isolator is improved. The optical isolator has low cost and small volume.
Description
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical isolator for isolating reflected light from a semiconductor laser in an optical fiber communication system.
Background
Semiconductor lasers are very sensitive to reflected light, which causes instability in the performance of the semiconductor laser, and therefore, it is necessary to integrate a miniaturized optical isolator in a semiconductor laser device. The isolator has various structures, the first structure is a conventional optical isolator and consists of two polarizers and a Faraday magneto-optical rotation element (containing a permanent magnet), and the structure is used for occasions with high isolation requirements on reflected light but has high cost; the second structure is an isolator which is formed by three walk-off crystals or the walk-off crystals combined with Faraday magneto-optical rotation elements, and has higher cost and larger volume; the third kind is the combination of the crystal with special angle and Faraday magnetic rotation element, the cost is high; the fourth type of structure is a combination of a polarizer and an 1/4 wave plate, which is relatively low cost.
However, the conventional crystal type optical isolator (including a wave plate type optical isolator) mostly adopts a mode that the optical isolator is perpendicular to an incident light beam when in use, but the light beam is perpendicularly incident, so that reflected light on the front end face of the isolator can be incident into the semiconductor laser, the performance of the semiconductor laser is affected, and the effect is very obvious.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide an optical isolator which can reduce optical isolation cost, improve isolation performance, compensate thickness, use in an inclined mode, has large angle assembly tolerance and is suitable for mass production and application.
In order to solve the technical problem, the invention provides an optical isolator which comprises a wave plate, wherein the wave plate is obliquely arranged relative to incident light so as to prevent the incident light from being vertically incident.
Further, the inclination angle of the wave plate is 20 °.
Further, the wave plate is a thickness-compensated true zero-order 1/4 wave plate, 3/4 wave plate or 5/4 wave plate.
Further, the thickness of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate retards the phase of the incident light passing through。
Further, the thickness of the 3/4 wave plate delays the phase of the incident light passing through。
Further, the thickness of the 5/4 wave plate delays the phase of the incident light passing through。
Furthermore, the included angles between the fast axis and the slow axis of the wave plate and the incident polarization direction of the incident light are both 45 degrees.
Further, the inclination angle of the wave plate has an angular tolerance.
Further, the device also comprises a polarizer, and the incident light sequentially passes through the polarizer and the wave plate.
Furthermore, the included angles between the fast axis and the slow axis of the wave plate and the light passing direction of the polarizer are both 45 degrees.
The wave plate is used in an inclined mode aiming at the influence of reflected light on the semiconductor laser by the front end face of the isolator, but the phenomenon that the size of the device is increased and the thickness of the wave plate cannot meet the required phase delay is caused by the inclined use of the wave plate, so that the thickness of the wave plate needs to be compensated, the compensated wave plate has large angle assembly tolerance and high isolation degree when being used in an inclined mode, and meanwhile, the cost is low and the size is small.
Drawings
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the angular relationship between the direction of light passing through the polarizer and the fast and slow axes of a true zero-order 1/4 wave plate in the embodiment of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of the propagation of incident light through a true zero-order 1/4 waveplate in accordance with the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the propagation of reflected light through a true zero-order 1/4 waveplate in accordance with the present invention.
Fig. 5 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of the angular relationship of the fast and slow axes of the true zero-order 1/4 waveplate to the polarization direction of the semiconductor laser beam for the embodiment shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the variation of true zero-order 1/4 wave plate thickness with tilt angle when applied to a 1490nm semiconductor laser for FTTx (Fiber-to-the-x).
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the variation of 3/4 wave plate thickness with tilt angle when applied to a 1490nm semiconductor laser for FTTx.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the variation of 5/4 wave plate thickness with tilt angle when applied to a 1490nm semiconductor laser for FTTx.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing the variation of the isolation with the tilt angle after compensation of the thickness of the wave plate when the invention is applied to a 1490nm semiconductor laser for FTTx.
Wherein: 101 polarizer; 102 true zero-order 1/4 waveplates; 103 a semiconductor laser; 104 PC pin; 105 incident light; 106 reflecting light; 201 light-passing direction; 202 a fast axis; 203 slow axis; 204 incident polarization direction.
Detailed Description
The present invention is further described with reference to the following drawings and specific examples so that those skilled in the art can better understand the present invention and can practice the present invention, but the examples are not intended to limit the present invention.
In order to reduce the influence of the reflected light from the front end face of the optical isolator, the optical isolator needs to be tilted, and the larger the tilt angle is, the smaller the energy of the reflected light entering the semiconductor laser is, but the larger the tilt angle is, the larger the device size is, so that it is necessary to select an appropriate tilt angle. Simulation and experiment prove that the wave plate has good effect when inclined by 20 degrees. However, the oblique use of the wave plate may cause the thickness of the wave plate not to satisfy the phase retardation of the wave plate, and at this time, the reflected light has a component in the polarization direction of the incident light, and the component affects the performance of the semiconductor laser, and reduces the isolation, so the wave plate needs to perform thickness compensation. The thickness of the wave plate compensation is related to the inclination angle.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. The isolator comprises a polarizer 101 and a thickness-compensated true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, wherein the polarizer 101 is positioned between the semiconductor laser 103 and the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, and the included angles between the light transmission direction 201 of the polarizer and the fast axis 202 and the slow axis 203 of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 are both 45, as shown in fig. 2.
The principle of the optical isolator shown in fig. 1 is: the polarizer 101 and the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 rotate 20 degrees around the Y axis, so that the light reflected by the front end faces of the polarizer 101 and the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 can be well reduced from entering the semiconductor laser 103. The polarization direction of the light emitted by the semiconductor laser 103 is perpendicular to the Z axis and parallel to the paper surface, and the light transmission direction 201 of the polarizer 101 is parallel to the paper surface. The emergent light of the semiconductor laser 103 is filtered by a polarizer 101 as incident light 105 of an optical isolator to be linearly polarized light, and the polarization direction of the linearly polarized light is vertical to the Z axis and parallel to the paper surface. Then, the incident light 105 enters the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, because the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 is inclined relative to the incident light 105, the incident light 105 is decomposed into two beams of light with mutually perpendicular polarization directions, and the two beams of light cannot be overlapped after being emitted from the rear end face of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, but the two beams of light keep overlappingAs shown in fig. 3. The two beams of light are reflected by the PC pin 104 to become reflected light 106, the polarization direction of the reflected light 106 is unchanged, the reflected light 106 passes through the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 again, and the phase difference between the two beams of light isAnd the two beams are recombined as shown in fig. 4. The polarization direction of the overlapped light beams is perpendicular to the light transmission direction 201 of the polarizer 101 due to the influence of the phase difference, so that the light beams cannot pass through the polarizer 101 and play a role of isolation. For the two beams split from incident light 105, the distance of beam splitting is small due to the small thickness of true zero 1/4 waveplate 102. The experiment of the module proves that the signal quality is good, and the beam splitting has little influence on the signal.
Experiments prove that the emergent light of the semiconductor laser has better linear polarization, the semiconductor laser is not sensitive to the reflected light in the polarization state vertical to the polarization direction of the emergent light, the wave plate type optical isolator can be simplified in order to simplify the structure and save the cost, the polarizer is removed, and the reflected light can be better isolated by only retaining one compensated wave plate. It is based on this principle that another embodiment of the present invention is designed.
Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, and the optical isolator of this embodiment is composed of only one thickness-compensated true zero-order 1/4 waveplate 102, where the emergent light of the semiconductor laser 103 is incident into the true zero-order 1/4 waveplate 102 as the incident light 105, and the incident polarization direction 204 of the incident light and the fast axis 202 and slow axis 203 of the true zero-order 1/4 waveplate 102 both have an included angle of 45 °, as shown in fig. 6, which is lower in cost. In this embodiment, the isolator is disposed behind the semiconductor laser 103 and in front of the PC pin 104, and is integrally packaged in the semiconductor laser device. This embodiment differs from the above embodiments in that the outgoing light from the semiconductor laser 103 is linearly polarized light, and enters the zeroth-order 1/4 wave plate 102 as the incoming light 105, and the incoming polarization direction 204 thereof is perpendicular to the Z axis and parallel to the paper surface. After the incident light 105 enters the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, because the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 is inclined with respect to the light beam, the light beam is split into two beams of light with mutually perpendicular polarization directions, as shown in fig. 3, the two beams of light cannot be overlapped after exiting from the rear end face of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, but the two beams of light keep overlappingThe phase difference of (1). The two beams are reflected by the PC pin 104 to become reflected light 106, the polarization state of the reflected light is unchanged, and the two beams pass through the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 again, so that the phase difference of the two beams isAnd the two beams are recombined as shown in fig. 4. The polarization direction of the superposed light beam is perpendicular to the polarization direction of the light emitted by the semiconductor laser 103 due to the influence of the phase difference, and the semiconductor laser 103 is insensitive to the light beam polarized in the direction, so that the light beam plays a role of isolation.
It should be noted that, when the thickness-compensated true zero-order 1/4 waveplate 102 is used at an oblique angle, it may be replaced by a thickness-compensated 3/4 waveplate, 5/4 waveplate, so as to further reduce the thickness of the waveplateThe cost of the optical isolator is reduced. Because both the 3/4 wave plate and the 5/4 wave plate which realize the same function are thicker than the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, the processing is easier. The difference between the three is that when the 3/4 wave plate and the 5/4 wave plate are used for thickness compensation, the incident light 105 is also split into two beams with polarization directions perpendicular to each other after entering the wave plate, but the two beams have phase differences after exiting the rear end face of the wave plateAndafter the two beams are reflected by the PC pin and pass through the wave plate, the two beams are superposed together with a phase difference ofAnd. Due to the phase period of light beingAt this time, the polarization direction of the light beam is also perpendicular to the polarization direction of the light emitted from the semiconductor laser 103, and the same effect as that of using the true zero-order 1/4 waveplate is achieved. It goes without saying that other known wave plates can be used by those skilled in the art to achieve the same function with the phase retardation.
For a better understanding of the present invention, the following examples illustrate the principles of operation and fabrication of the optical isolator of the present invention. The thickness of true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 as standard 1490nm satisfiesWhereinis thickness, wavelengthnm in true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 made of quartz crystal、At this time, the thickness of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 is 43.72um, which can realize phase retardation of the passing light beam. However, true zero order 1/4 waveplate 102 is tilted 20 for use in order to obtainThe thickness of true zero-order 1/4 waveplate 102 should be 44.86 um. If the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 with the thickness of 43.72um is used by being inclined at 20 degrees, the isolation degree is reduced to 14dB, and the isolation requirement cannot be met, so that the standard true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 cannot be realized by being inclinedThe phase delay of (2) needs to be compensated for by thickness. The thickness of the compensated true zero-order 1/4 waveplate is related to the angle of tilt, as shown in FIG. 7. Similarly, fig. 8 and 9 are schematic diagrams illustrating the thickness of the 3/4 wave plate and the 5/4 wave plate varying with the tilt angle when the optical isolator of the present invention is applied to a 1490nm semiconductor laser for FTTx, respectively.
The thickness compensation wave plate processing mode of the invention has two modes, the first mode calculates the thickness of the wave plate used obliquely when the phase is delayed by the phase difference of light beam propagation in the birefringent crystalFinishing, given a tolerance band; the second way is to process the wave plate by wavelength compensation, i.e. to make the thickness of the wave plate used obliquelyEqual to another non-tilted use of a wavelength ofThickness of the standard wave plateSo as to determine the wavelength of the standard wave plate corresponding to the thicknessProcessing the wavelength ofWhen the wave plate is used at the operating wavelength of 1490nm inclined by 20 degrees, the function of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 with the wavelength of 1490nm can be realized. The relationship between the wavelength and the thickness of the wave plate is as follows:
wherein,、is composed ofThe refractive index of the principal axis of (a),is the order of the wave plate,true zero order 1/4 waveplate 102,in the case of the 3/4 wave plate,an 5/4 wave plate.
On the premise of meeting the isolation and assembly tolerance, the cost can be reduced by replacing the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102 with a 3/4 wave plate or a 5/4 wave plate. Because the processing precision requirements of the 3/4 wave plate and the 5/4 wave plate are lower than that of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102, the thickness is relatively large, the processing and the assembly are easy, but the isolation effect is lower than that of the true zero-order 1/4 wave plate 102. Meanwhile, in order to facilitate assembly, various assembly errors need to be considered, and computer simulation shows that the wave plate is sensitive to angles. Simulations indicate that for true zero-order 1/4 waveplates 102, 3/4 and 5/4 waveplates, there is a large angular tolerance around a tilt angle of 20 °, as for true zero-order 1/4 waveplate 102, in the second way, the wavelength range of the waveplate corresponding to thickness compensation is 1525 ± 5 nm. A1525 nm wave plate is manufactured, and the wave plate is obliquely arranged for the occasion of 1490nm working wavelength, so that the reflected light of a 1490nm signal can be isolated.
The isolation effect after the wave plate thickness compensation can be clearly seen from fig. 10, which shows that the compensated wave plate has an angular tolerance of ± 4.6 ° with 20.04 ° as the center, and has a larger isolation within the tolerance range, wherein the minimum isolation of 1/4 wave plate 102 is 33.9dB, the minimum isolation of 3/4 wave plate is 24.3dB, and the minimum isolation of 5/4 wave plate is 20dB, which satisfies the application occasion with higher isolation requirement.
The invention can also be used in devices with higher requirement on isolation in optical fiber communication, such as transmitting ports of TOSA, BOSA and single-fiber three-way devices, the principles of the invention are the same, and detailed description is omitted.
The above-mentioned embodiments are merely preferred embodiments for fully illustrating the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. The equivalent substitution or change made by the technical personnel in the technical field on the basis of the invention is all within the protection scope of the invention. The protection scope of the invention is subject to the claims.
Claims (10)
1. An optical isolator comprising a waveplate, wherein the waveplate is disposed at an angle to incident light.
2. The optical isolator of claim 1 wherein the angle of inclination of the waveplate is 20 °.
3. The optical isolator of claim 1, wherein the waveplate is a thickness-compensated true zero-order 1/4 waveplate, 3/4 waveplate, or 5/4 waveplate.
7. The optical isolator of claim 1 wherein the fast and slow axes of the waveplate are both at 45 ° to the incident polarization direction of the incident light.
8. The optical isolator of claim 1 wherein the angle of inclination of the waveplate is angularly tolerant.
9. The optical isolator according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a polarizer, wherein the incident light passes through the polarizer and the wave plate in this order.
10. The optical isolator of claim 9 wherein the fast and slow axes of the waveplate are both at 45 ° to the direction of light transmission from the polarizer.
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CN2011101852289A CN102243339B (en) | 2011-07-04 | 2011-07-04 | Optical isolator |
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CN2011101852289A CN102243339B (en) | 2011-07-04 | 2011-07-04 | Optical isolator |
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Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN102962900A (en) * | 2012-11-28 | 2013-03-13 | 索尔思光电(成都)有限公司 | Cutting method for free-space photoisolator chip body |
CN107910741A (en) * | 2017-12-27 | 2018-04-13 | 苏州伽蓝致远电子科技股份有限公司 | The multiple path laser of anti-veiling glare crosstalk |
CN111602052A (en) * | 2018-04-28 | 2020-08-28 | 深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司 | Blood detection method and blood analysis system |
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JPS58194012A (en) * | 1982-05-10 | 1983-11-11 | Toyo Commun Equip Co Ltd | Half-mirror type optical isolator |
JPH10186279A (en) * | 1996-12-20 | 1998-07-14 | Toyo Commun Equip Co Ltd | Optical isolator |
CN2648708Y (en) * | 2003-07-29 | 2004-10-13 | 珠海保税区光联通讯技术有限公司 | Light isolator |
CN201387500Y (en) * | 2009-03-24 | 2010-01-20 | 深圳新飞通光电子技术有限公司 | GPON single fiber bi-directional optical transmitting-receiving component |
-
2011
- 2011-07-04 CN CN2011101852289A patent/CN102243339B/en active Active
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS58194012A (en) * | 1982-05-10 | 1983-11-11 | Toyo Commun Equip Co Ltd | Half-mirror type optical isolator |
JPH10186279A (en) * | 1996-12-20 | 1998-07-14 | Toyo Commun Equip Co Ltd | Optical isolator |
CN2648708Y (en) * | 2003-07-29 | 2004-10-13 | 珠海保税区光联通讯技术有限公司 | Light isolator |
CN201387500Y (en) * | 2009-03-24 | 2010-01-20 | 深圳新飞通光电子技术有限公司 | GPON single fiber bi-directional optical transmitting-receiving component |
Cited By (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
CN102962900A (en) * | 2012-11-28 | 2013-03-13 | 索尔思光电(成都)有限公司 | Cutting method for free-space photoisolator chip body |
CN102962900B (en) * | 2012-11-28 | 2015-05-13 | 索尔思光电(成都)有限公司 | Cutting method for free-space photoisolator chip body |
CN107910741A (en) * | 2017-12-27 | 2018-04-13 | 苏州伽蓝致远电子科技股份有限公司 | The multiple path laser of anti-veiling glare crosstalk |
CN111602052A (en) * | 2018-04-28 | 2020-08-28 | 深圳迈瑞生物医疗电子股份有限公司 | Blood detection method and blood analysis system |
US12092633B2 (en) | 2018-04-28 | 2024-09-17 | Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. | Blood detection method and blood analysis system |
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