Liquid Crystal Polarisation Controller

Lightwaves2020's polarisation controller is based on liquid crystal technology. It consists of three or four liquid crystal retarders with their fast optical axes oriented at 0° or 45°, which have the same functionality as variable waveplates. Theoretically, only three liquid crystals retarders are needed to transform an arbitrary input state of polarisation into any desired output polarisation state. The fourth one is added for fast searching, if necessary. The control over the state of polarisation is achieved by individually changing the voltages applied to each retarder, which controls the retardations.
Sealed in a mini 10-pin DIN package with dimensions of 13.8x7.5x8.0mm, Lightwaves2020's polarisation controller provides an easy-mounting solution for many applications. In addition, the device and the thermal sensor can be integrated in the same package for close-loop control, which stabilises the thermal performance. The PC is Telcordia compliant.

Features

• No-moving parts
• Wide operating wavelength range
• High extinction ratio
• Low insertion loss
• Low PDL
• Low PMD
• Low power consumption

Applications

• PMD compensators
• Polarisation generators
• Polarisation multiplexers
• Polarisation scramblers
• Polarisation instrumentation