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US 7,372,568 B1Granted
Low cost polametric detector
AssigneeGeneral Photonics Corporation
InventorX Steve Yao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Polarimeters based on transversal division of the input beam and use of different polarization elements in different polarization states to change polarizations of different portions of the input beam so that the power levels of the different portions of the input beam can be measured to determine the polarization state of the input beam. A wedged substrate can be used to direct the different portions of the input beam at different directions and a lens can be used to focus these different portions at different locations at a plane.
Claims23
A device for measuring optical polarization of light, comprising:
- a substrate that transmits light;
- a plurality of polarization elements located on the substrate, the polarization elements configured at different polarization states and spatially separated from one another to receive different portions of a common input optical beam to produce transmitted light beams in different polarization states;
- and
- an optical detector comprising a plurality of active detector sensing areas, each of which corresponds to a respective polarization element and receives a transmitted light beam from the respective polarization element,
- wherein the substrate is a wedged substrate having a first side on which the plurality of polarization elements are placed and a second, opposite side having a plurality of angled surfaces to cause the transmitted light beams to propagate at different directions,
- the device further comprising:
- a lens between the polarization elements and the optical detector to focus the transmitted light beams onto the active detector sensing areas, respectively.
4 more elements
A device for measuring optical polarization of light, comprising:
- a plurality of polarization elements configured at different polarization states and spatially separated from one another to receive different portions of a common input optical beam to produce transmitted light beams in different polarization states, respectively;
- a wedged substrate on which the polarization elements are located, the wedged substrate transmitting light and having a plurality of angled surfaces on one side of the wedged substrate to cause the transmitted light beams to propagate at different directions;
- a lens positioned downstream from the wedged substrate and the polarization elements to receive the transmitted light beams at the different directions and to focus the transmitted light beams at different locations;
- a plurality of fibers located at or near a focal plane of the lens to receive focused beams from the lens, respectively;
- and
- a plurality of optical detectors, each optical detector coupled to a respective fiber of the optical fibers.
3 more elements
A device for measuring optical polarization of light, comprising:
- a plurality of polarization elements at different polarization states that are spatially separated from one another to receive different portions of a common input optical beam to produce transmitted light beams;
- a wedged substrate on which the polarization elements are located, the wedged substrate transmitting light and having a plurality of angled surfaces on one side of the wedged substrate to cause the transmitted light beams to propagate at different directions;
- a lens positioned to receive the transmitted light beams at the different directions and to focus the transmitted light beams at different locations at a plane;
- and
- a plurality of optical detectors at or near the plane to respectively receive transmitted light beams output by the lens and to produce detector output signals that contain information on a state of polarization of the input beam.
2 more elements
A method for measuring optical polarization of light, comprising:
- directing an input beam of light to transmit through a wedged substrate having a plurality of angled surfaces on one side of the wedged substrate to split the input beam into a plurality of transmitted light beams by the angled surfaces, respectively, to propagate at different directions;
- in the optical path of the input beam, providing a plurality of polarization elements configured at different polarization states and spatially separated from one another to respectively correspond to the angled surfaces on the wedged substrate, one polarization element to one angled surface, to cause the transmitted light beams produced by the wedged substrate to be in different polarization states, respectively;
- using a lens positioned downstream from the wedged substrate and the polarization elements to receive the transmitted light beams at the different directions and to focus the transmitted light beams at different locations;
- using a plurality of optical detectors spaced from the lens to receive focused beams from the lens, respectively, and to produce detector output signals that contain information on a state of polarization of the input beam;
- and
- processing the detector output signals to measure a polarization state of the input beam.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.