A universal optical all-fiber omnipolarizer

Julien Fatome (1) , Stéphane Pitois (2) , Philippe Morin (2) , Elie Assémat (2) , Dominique Sugny (2) , Antonio Picozzi (2) , Hans-Rudolf Jauslin (2) , Guy Millot (2) , Victor V. Kozlov (3) , Stefan Wabnitz (4)

1 SLCO
2 ICB - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne
3 Faculty of Physics [St Petersburg]
4 univesité de brescia

Wherever the polarization properties of a light beam are of concern, polarizers and polarizing beamsplitters (PBS) are indispensable devices in linear-, nonlinear- and quantum-optical schemes. By the very nature of their operation principle, transformation of incoming unpolarized or partially polarized beams through these devices introduces large intensity variations in the fully polarized outcoming beam(s). Such intensity fluctuations are often detrimental, particularly when light is post-processed by nonlinear crystals or other polarization-sensitive optic elements. Here we demonstrate the unexpected capability of light to self-organize its own state-of-polarization, upon propagation in optical fibers, into universal and environmentally robust states, namely right and left circular polarizations. We experimentally validate a novel polarizing device - the Omnipolarizer, which is understood as a nonlinear dual-mode polarizing optical element capable of operating in two modes - as a digital PBS and as an ideal polarizer. Switching between the two modes of operation requires changing beam's intensity.

Keywords: Nonlinear optics; optical fiber; polarization control

Domains: Optics [physics.optics]

Julien Fatome, Stéphane Pitois, Philippe Morin, Elie Assémat, Dominique Sugny, et al.. A universal optical all-fiber omnipolarizer. Scientific Reports, 2012, 2, pp.938. ⟨10.1038/srep00938⟩. ⟨hal-00780970⟩