3-port optical circulator/switch with mirror

摘要

The present invention is a three port optical circulator including a reflective device such as a mirror. Advantageously, the incorporation of the mirror into the circulator of the present invention enables two ports of the circulator to be terminated using a dual fiber termination and a shared collimating system such as a single GRIN. According to one advantageous embodiment of the invention an optical apparatus of the present invention comprises first and second polarization splitter/combiners including walk-off devices having a splitting end and a combining end. The polarization splitter/combiners further include a polarization interchanger disposed proximate input/output ports at the combining end of the walk-off device. A generalized polarization splitter/combiner further includes another walk-off device having input/output ports at a first end thereof and input/output ports at a second end thereof, the first generalized polarization splitter/combiner including a reflective polarization interchanger disposed proximate input/output ports at the second end. The generalized polarization splitter/combiner is coupled between the first and second polarization splitter/combiner. The device also includes a non-reciprocal polarization interchanger positioned between the second polarization splitter/combiner and first generalized polarization splitter/combiner. The apparatus illustratively functions as a 3-port circulator/1x2 switch.