Features
- Polarization Control over Full Poincare Sphere
- Operates over Full Fiber Bandwidth
- Very Easy to Operate
- Compatible with Ø900 µm Jacketed Fibers
If your application includes single mode fiber and requires linearly polarized light, the FPC Series Polarization Controllers can be easily implemented to convert elliptically polarized light in a single mode fiber into another state of polarization, including linearly polarized light. This polarization conversion is achieved by loading the paddles with a prescribed number of fiber loops to create a fixed waveplate, and adjusting their positions to control the output polarization state.
These polarization controllers utilize stress-induced birefringence to create three independent fractional, fixed wave plates to alter the polarization of the transmitted light in the single mode fiber by looping the fiber around three independent spools. Each spool, in essence, represents a wave plate. See the Operation tab for more details.
The amount of birefringence induced in the fiber is a function of the fiber cladding diameter, the spool diameter (fixed), the number of fiber loops per spool, and the wavelength of the light. The fast axis of the fiber, which is in the plane of the spool, is adjusted with respect to the transmitted polarization vector by manually rotating the paddles. The FPC031, FPC032, FPC561, and FPC562 fiber polarization controllers come preloaded with fiber. All of our controllers are compatible with Ø900 µm jacketed fibers, however, the ends of the controller are capable of clamping onto Ø3 mm protective tubing.
NOTE: The FPC030 and FPC020 work well with all of our single mode fibers. For fibers with higher bend loss (e.g., Corning’s SMF-28e+), use model FPC560.
Thorlabs also offers a drop-in, clamping polarization controller, the PLC-900.