OPTICAL SIGNAL SAMPLING DEVICE AND ITS METHOD, AND OPTICAL MONITOR DEVICE USING SAME AND ITS METHOD

摘要

An optical sampling device and an optical signal monitor device are comprised of an optical synthesizing unit for synthesizing a sampling subject optical signal and a sampling optical pulse, and an electric field absorption type optical modulator. The electric field absorption type optical modulator is provided with two optical terminals for projecting and receiving light, and an electric power source terminal to apply an electric field to an optical path to connect the two optical terminals. The electric field absorption type optical modulator has a characteristic that changes an absorption rate of light propagating through the optical pathin response to the magnitude of the electric field, receives projected light through one of the two optical terminals from the optical synthesizing unit, and makes the absorption rate high when the sampling optical pulse is not incident while lowering the absorption rate when the sampling optical pulse is incident. The optical sampling device and the optical signal monitor device further include a direct current electric power source to supply a predetermined direct current to the electric power source terminal, and an optical separating unit for selectively projecting the sampling subject optical signal component out of the optical signals projected from the other terminal of the two optical terminals.