Design of polarization-maintaining retro-reflector for folded-path applications

• 来源期刊: 中国光学快报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2011,（11）
• 页码范围: 6-9
• 页数: 4页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.3788/COL201109.100601

摘要

A design of polarization-maintaining retro-reflectors (PMRRs) for folded-path applications is proposed and analyzed.The prism-based scheme enables the output light,which is parallel to the input,to have an identical state of polarization.The principle of the design is theoretically verified,and the related error is analyzed due to possible manufacturing imperfection.The maximum spatial angle error is ±2.75°.The effect on the extinction ratio and insertion loss is also discussed,which further proves the design's feasibility in practical applications.Polarization maintaining reflectors play an essential role in physical optics and optical communications.However,the phase shift induced by the reflection may affect the state of polarization (SOP) of signals.The SOP is essential information in optical sensors and ellipsometers[1-5].Thus,maintaining the reflecting polarization is crucial and has attracted much attention.However,most of these applications are based on the coating technology[6-9] and the design of photonic crystal[10-13],which are not appropriate in practical applications because of the special equipment or high precision required.Clearly,the most efficient approach to overcome the effect is to employ no-shift instruments[14-16],which are easy to fabricate and implement in practical applications.