In-fiber linear polarizer based on UV-inscribed 45° tilted grating in polarization maintaining fiber

We report an in-fiber linear polarizer structured by UV-inscribing a 45 degrees tilted fiber grating (TFG) into polarization maintaining (PM) fiber along its principal axis. The polarization extinction ratio (PER) achieved by a 48 mm long 45 degrees TFG has reached 46 dB at 1550 nm and the overall PER is >40 dB over a 50 nm wavelength range. Such 45 degrees TFG based polarizers have many advantages over conventional products, including low loss, low cost, simple fabrication process, and no physical modification to the fiber, thus offering high stability and capable of handling high power. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America