Polarization converters in highly birefringent microfibers

Area of Science:

• Photonics and optical engineering
• Materials science for optical devices
• Fiber optics and waveguides

Background:

• Polarization converters (PCs) are crucial optical components.
• Highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) microfibers offer unique properties for light manipulation.
• Existing PC designs may have limitations in flexibility and bandwidth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel type of polarization converters (PCs) utilizing highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) microfibers.
• To develop analytical and numerical methods for analyzing these novel PCs.
• To investigate different design configurations and their performance characteristics.

Main Methods:

• Analytical formulation using the Jones Matrix method.
• Numerical simulation via the Full Vectorial Finite Difference Beam Propagation Method.
• Study of
• "one-side" and "two-side" perturbation configurations.

Main Results:

• Developed and validated analytical and numerical models for Hi-Bi microfiber PCs.
• Demonstrated good agreement between analytical and numerical results.
• Showcased flexible design of PCs for tunable operating wavelengths, spectral bandwidths, and device lengths.
• A specific elliptical microfiber PC exhibited a wide bandwidth of ~600 nm around 1550 nm with a short device length of ~150 μm.

Conclusions:

• Highly birefringent microfiber-based polarization converters provide a versatile platform for optical signal processing.
• The developed theoretical and numerical tools enable precise design and optimization of these devices.
• The demonstrated wide bandwidth and compact size highlight the potential of these PCs for integrated photonic applications.