Polarization independent microphotonic circuits

Microphotonic circuits have been proposed for applications ranging from optical switching and routing to optical logic circuits. However many applications require microphotonic circuits to be polarization independent, a requirement that is difficult to achieve with the high index contrast waveguides needed to form microphotonic devices. Chief among these microphotonic circuits is the optical add/drop multiplexer which requires polarization independence to mate to the standard single-mode fiber forming today's optical networks. Herein, we present the results of an effort to circumvent the polarization dependence of a microphotonic add/drop multiplexer with an integrated polarization diversity scheme. Rather than attempt to overcome the polarization dependence of the microphotonic devices in the circuit directly, the arbitrary polarization emanating from the fiber is split into orthogonal components, one of which is rotated to enable a single on-chip polarization. The outputs are passed through identical sets of devices and recombined at the output through the reverse process.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Watts, Michael Robert, 1974-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Erich P. Ippen.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33929

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/33929