Classification of Polarization Maintaining Fibers
Polarization-maintaining fibers work by intentionally introducing a systematic linear in the fiber, so that there are two well defined polarization modes which propagate along the fiber with very distinct phase velocities. The beat length Lb of such a fiber (for a particular wavelength) is the distance (typically a few millimeters) over which the wave in one mode will experience an additional delay of one wavelength compared to the other polarization mode. Thus a length Lb /2 of such fiber is equivalent to a Categories of Polarization Maintaining Fibers There are many types of polarization maintaining fibers, which can be divided into high birefringence optical fibers (birefringence coefficient B~10 -4) and low birefringence optical fibers (B~10 -7; B~10 -9) according to the size. The laser beam coupler couples the radiation into PM fibers with high coupling efficiency.
Read More
