Total switching of unpolarized fiber light with a four-port electro-optic liquid-crystal device.
A liquid-crystal switch capable of switching nearly 100% of unpolarized light from one multimode fiber to another had been conceived and demonstrated experimentally. The switch uses a double interaction with a single layer of nematic liquid crystal in which the liquid alignment is initially in plane at 90 degrees to the light propagation. This four-fiber optical reversing switch has a simple structure, a low insertion loss, and a low operating voltage. It should find a wide range of applications in fiber-optic communication systems.
Soref
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Sperry Research Center, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776, USA.
McMahon
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