Polarization splitter based on photonic crystal fibers

Opt Express. 2003 May 5;11(9):1015-20. doi: 10.1364/oe.11.001015.

Abstract

We report a new kind of polarization splitter based on dual-core photonic crystal fibers. The polarization splitter has a symmetric directional coupler configuration. Each core exhibits high birefringence, which gives rise to an adequate difference in the coupling lengths for the two orthogonal polarizations. A 1.7-mm-long splitter is obtained with the splitting ratio better than -11 dB and a bandwidth of 40 nm. The relationship between the length of the polarization splitter and the diameter of the air hole in the middle of the two cores is discussed.