Abstract

Optical polarizers consisting of directional couplers are of great interest as guided-wave devices in optical signal processing systems. By splitting the input signal into two orthogonal TE and TM modes, the output signals can be used in a high-speed optical communication for single-mode transmission. The pertinent behavior, which relies on the difference between propagation constants, was analyzed by using coupled-mode theory to evaluate the coupling lengths for the two polarizations [1] [2]. However, this approach is often insufficiently accurate, and it may not provide full information on all the physical effects encountered in devices containing lossy and/or gainy media, such as semiconductor based materials.

© 1996 Optical Society of America