US 11,719,965 B2
Optical isolators
Shyh-Chung Lin, Bellevue, WA (US); and Hongyu Hu, Renton, WA (US)
Assigned to Lightel Technologies, Inc., Renton, WA (US)
Filed by Lightel Technologies, Inc., Renton, WA (US)
Filed on Dec. 16, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/123,623.
Prior Publication US 2022/0187639 A1, Jun. 16, 2022
Int. Cl. G02F 1/09 (2006.01); G02B 5/30 (2006.01); G02B 27/30 (2006.01); G02B 27/28 (2006.01)
CPC G02F 1/093 (2013.01) [G02B 5/3083 (2013.01); G02B 27/283 (2013.01); G02B 27/30 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical isolator assembly, comprising:
a first optical collimator;
a first polarization beam splitter/combiner;
a non-reciprocal polarization rotator;
a second polarization beam splitter/combiner,
a second optical collimator,
wherein, with an optical signal received in the first optical collimator in a forward direction, a first incoming collimated optical beam emerges from the first optical collimator, passes through sequentially the first polarization beam splitter/combiner, the non-reciprocal polarization rotator and the second polarization beam splitter/combiner, and exits through the second optical collimator,
wherein optical paths of two orthogonally polarized beams, an o-ray and an e-ray emerging from the first polarization beam splitter/combiner are configured to cross each other at a position, as projected on an incidence plane, before arriving at the second polarization beam splitter/combiner,
wherein, with the optical signal received in the first optical collimator in the forward direction, polarizations of the two orthogonally polarized beams, the o-ray and the e-ray emerging from the first polarization beam splitter/combiner, are configured so that the o-ray from the first polarization beam splitter/combiner turns into an e-ray in the second polarization beam splitter/combiner and the e-ray from the first polarization beam splitter/combiner turns into an o-ray in the second polarization beam splitter/combiner,
wherein, with another optical signal received in the second optical collimator in a reverse direction, a second incoming collimated optical beam from the second optical collimator passes through sequentially the second polarization beam splitter/combiner, the non-reciprocal polarization rotator and the first polarization beam splitter/combiner, and emerge as two angularly deviated orthogonally polarized beams due to the non-reciprocal polarization rotator, and
wherein the two angularly deviated orthogonally polarized beams cannot be coupled into the first optical collimator.