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All-optical polarization scrambler based on polarization beam splitting with an amplified fiber ring

Yuanjie Yu, Shiyun Dai, Qiang Wu, Long Yu, Liu Ai, Peng Cai, Ligang Huang, Lei Gao, Tao Zhu

Published May 3, 2024• 1 citation

Abstract

Optical-fiber-based polarization scramblers can reduce the impact of polarization sensitive performance of various optical fiber systems. Here, we propose a simple and efficient polarization scrambler based on an all-optical Mach-Zehnder structure by combining a polarization beam splitter and an amplified fiber ring. To totally decoherence one polarization split beam, a fiber ring together with an amplifier is incorporated. The ratio of two orthogonal beams can be controlled by varying the amplification factor, and we observe different evolution trajectories of the output state of polarizations on the Poincaré sphere. When the amplification factor exceeds a certain threshold, the scrambler system exhibits nearly ideal polarization scrambling behavior. A commercial single wavelength laser with a linewidth of 3 MHz is utilized to characterize the scrambling performance. We found that when the sampling rate is 1.6 MSa/s, a scrambling speed up to 2000krad/s can be obtained for the average degree of polarization being less than 0.1. We also exploit these random polarization fluctuations to generate random binary numbers, indicating that the proposed technique is a good candidate for a random bit generator.

DOI: 10.1364/oe.510422

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A new system for entangled photon-pair generation using an all-fiber optic scheme consists of a fiber optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) incorporating a fiber optic ring resonator. The Kerr nonlinearity effect in the fiber ring resonator is exploited for the generation of two independent squeezed beams. The advantage of such a system is that it requires a simple arrangement without any optical pumping parts or bulky optical components. Polarized light pulse trains are launched randomly into a MZI, and one part of the light is delayed in the longer path. The output pulses from both arms of the MZI enter a fiber optic ring resonator. A polarization controller controls the polarization states of the light pulses while they circulate in the ring resonator. The superposition of the nonlinear light pulses in a fiber optic ring resonator randomly occur. These forms are seen on an avalanche photodetector. The results are in good agreement with previous work.

A new technique of an entangled photon pair generation using an all fiber optic scheme is presented. The proposed system is consisted of a fiber optic Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) incorporating with a fiber optic ring resonator. The Kerr nonlinearity effect in the fiber ring resonator is exploited for the generation of two independent squeezed beams. The advantage of such a system is that it requires a simple arrangement without any optical pumping part and bulky optical components. Polarized light pulse trains are launched randomly into a MZI which one part of them is delayed in the longer path. The output pulses from both arms of the MZI are entered into a nonlinear fiber optic ring resonator. Where the superpositions of light pulses in a nonlinear fiber optics ring resonator are randomly occurred which is formed the entangled photon pairs. A polarization controller controls polarization states of light pulses while circulating in the ring resonator. The entangled photons are seen on the avalanche photo-detector, which is shown in good agreement with the previous works.

Polarization variations in optical fibers are complex and would severely affect the performances of polarization-sensitive signal distribution systems. Owing to advances in experimental techniques and theoretical tools, we observe the effect of polarization variations in the optical fibers and we demonstrate that polarization mode dispersion (PMD) dominates the free-running fiber noise. Ultrahigh correlation, over 99%, is found between the phase fluctuation induced by polarization variation and the temperature fluctuation impacted on the optical fibers. By means of a polarization scrambling technique, the polarization variations in the optical fiber are averaged and the phase perturbations are minimized. It provides a promising solution for suppressing the random disturbances of polarization in the fiber-based optical frequency transfer system and quantum key distribution (QKD) system.

In coherent optical transmission systems using conventional single mode fibers, the received state of polarization (SOP) is unknown and changing [1]. Polarization scrambling of the transmitted signal [2] or the local oscillator [3] overcomes signal fading by forcing a signal to undergo very large polarization changes during each bit cycle. The power penalty is ideally 3 dB because on average the polarization match between signal and local oscillator is only one-half. If the transmitted signal is scrambled, only one scrambler is needed even if several subscribing receivers are used. One reported scrambler [2] has an integrated optical phase shifter as the active element and switches a certain class of input SOPs alternately between themselves and their orthogonal states. This particular scheme suffers from two notable deficiencies. First, some input SOPs are not scrambled at all. Second, a receiver bandwidth of many times the scrambling frequency is required to capture all spectral components produced by the scrambler, which amounts to an additional sensitivity penalty in a practical system.

Polarization control is of vital importance in optical communications, which can affect the stability and bit error rate of a system. We demonstrate an all-fiber high-speed polarization control scheme based on a bidirectional Sagnac ring. The polarization direction can be accurately controlled by adjusting the phase difference of an electro-optic fiber phase modulator in the ring, meanwhile it is realized that only a single beam port outputs different polarization states. The phase can be adjusted accuratly to 10-3 rad, giving an extinction ratio as high as 30 dB, and the modulation speed can reach 2 GHz. The system has excellent stability, and as the optical circuit consists of simple, low cost components which can be easily integrated, there are good prospects for its application in quantum cryptography and other optical communcations fields.