title: In-line liquid-crystal microcell polarimeter for high-speed polarization analysis.
abstract: We report a type of high-speed microcell polarimeter that utilizes microelectrodes, liquid-crystal films, and ultrathin high-contrast polarizers, all integrated between the tips of two optical fibers. When combined with optimized nematic liquid-crystal materials, this compact (2.5 cm x 0.5 cm x 0.5 cm) device offers excellent optical properties and continuous, high-speed operation at > 2 kHz with moderately low operating voltages. It requires no bulk optical elements, and it shows excellent performance when implemented for the measurement of degree of polarization in 10-Gbit/s test systems. Polarimeters based on this design have promising potential applications in polarization analysis for high-speed optical communication systems.
authors.affiliation: Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974, USA.
authors.forename: Bharat R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Acharya
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Baldwin
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: MacHarrie
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Möller
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pindak