Integrated Optical I/O Port Combiner

Researchers at the University of Arizona have designed a polarization splitter rotator (PSR) that enables use of a single optical port for input and output signals simultaneously. This allows the output ports to connect to a wider variety of components and frees up other I/O ports for additional functions, or reduces the number of optical I/O ports required on a photonic integrated circuit.

Background:
Polarization splitter rotators (PSR) are used to separate the different polarization states of a beam of light entering the input port of the rotator, into different output ports on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC). These are generally used in one direction only, and lack efficiency.

Advantages: 

• Reduces the required number of optical I/O ports (or roughly doubles the number of available I/O ports)
• Increases the utilization of the capacity available on the chip
• Eliminates cross-talk and Bragg grating effect

Applications:

• Photonic integrated circuits (PICs)
• Telecommunications

Status: issued U.S. patent #11,391,896