An improved-type of interferometric fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG) is proposed, which is used for the observation and measurement of the Sagnac effect to determine the angular speed of a rotational movement with enhanced measurement sensitivity and accuracy. The improved FOG is characterized by the combined use of a polarization-maintaining mechanism, a symmetric beam-splitting configuration for the 3×3 directional coupler, a common optical path for the opposing beams, and a pair of photo detectors for the detection of a pair of differential phase signals that indicate the angular speed of the rotational movement. The combined use of these approaches can help significantly eliminate and reduce the common mode phase noises caused by polarization crosstalk to a minimum possible level that has never been achieved by the conventional FOGs, thus significantly enhancing the measurement sensitivity and accuracy to a much higher level.

A photonic lantern couples light from several fibers or fiber cores into one or more fibers or fiber cores. Photonic lanterns are often used to combine several lower-power beams into a single higher-power beam. They can also be used to couple light from multi-core fibers into single-mode, multi-mode, or other multi-core fibers. By modulating the phases of the input beams, the light can be switched from output to output—for example, between output cores of a multi-core output fiber. If desired, the beams can also be amplified using an active fiber in or coupled to the photonic lantern. A first photonic lantern couples signal light and pump light into the core and cladding, respectively, of an active multi-mode or multi-core fiber. And the active multi-mode or multi-core fiber couples amplified signal light into output fiber(s) via a second photonic lantern.

The application provides a interface light path structure with all polarization-maintaining function. A first polarization-maintaining-transferring device includes a first port, a second port, and a third port, wherein the first port receives a first polarized light output by the polarization beam-splitting device, the second port is connected to the first Faraday rotation mirror, and the third port is connected to a first port of the first polarization-maintaining coupler. A second polarization-maintaining-transferring device includes a first port, a second port, and a third port, wherein the first port receives a second polarized light output by the polarization beam-splitting device, the second port is connected to the second Faraday rotation mirror, and the third port is connected to a second port of the first polarization-maintaining coupler.

An optical wiring component includes an optical waveguide component that has a first end surface and a second end surface and includes a plurality of optical waveguides extending from the first end surface to the second end surface, an angle formed by a plane including the first end surface and a plane including the second end surface being 70° or more, a plurality of optical fibers that have a first end and a second end, one or more first optical connectors that are mounted on the first end and fixed to the optical waveguide component at the first end surface by an adhesive agent, and one or more second optical connectors that are mounted on the second end.

Advantageously, at least one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a polarization maintaining PROFA (“PM-PROFA”) coupler in which the polarization axes of the individual vanishing core waveguides thereof are oriented or aligned without the need to adjust the orientation of each individual VC waveguide.

Structures for a directional coupler and methods of fabricating a structure for a directional coupler. A first waveguide core has a first section, a second waveguide core has a second section laterally adjacent to the first section, a third waveguide core has a first taper, a second taper, and a third section longitudinally positioned between the first taper and the second taper, and a fourth waveguide core has a first taper, a second taper, and a fourth section longitudinally positioned between the first taper and the second taper. The fourth section is laterally adjacent to the third section, and the third section and the fourth section are positioned either over or under the first section and the second section.

Provided is an optical fiber coupler capable of suppressing variation of polarization state of light passing through a coupler portion. The optical fiber coupler includes: a substrate having a groove; a coupler portion which is inserted into the groove and to which a middle portion of each of optical fibers is joined; and an adhesive for bonding the coupler portion to the substrate. Shore D hardness of the adhesive is 10 to 35. By setting the Shore D hardness of the adhesive to 10 to 35, it is possible to suppress the variation of the polarization state of the light passing through the coupler portion.

The application provides a interface light path structure with all polarization-maintaining function. A first polarization-maintaining-transferring device includes a first port, a second port, and a third port, wherein the first port receives a first polarized light output by the polarization beam-splitting device, the second port is connected to the first Faraday rotation mirror, and the third port is connected to a first port of the first polarization-maintaining coupler. A second polarization-maintaining-transferring device includes a first port, a second port, and a third port, wherein the first port receives a second polarized light output by the polarization beam-splitting device, the second port is connected to the second Faraday rotation mirror, and the third port is connected to a second port of the first polarization-maintaining coupler.

A depolarizer for a broadband optical source to split the source beam by power, not by polarization state, and route the components into respective light paths. A polarization rotator arranged in one of the light paths rotates the polarization state of that beam component to make it orthogonal to that of the other. The components are then recombined by a combiner and output. A variable optical attenuator is arranged in one of the light paths, which during operation is adjusted by a controller to maintain power equalization between the light paths and hence depolarization performance. The controller receives power measurements from the light paths and from after the combiner via respective sensors. With this feedforward design reminiscent of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer the light from a light source which generates highly polarized light can be depolarized in theory with zero insertion loss and in practice with losses of about 1 dB.

Advantageously, at least one embodiment of the present disclosure comprises a polarization maintaining PROFA (PM-PROFA) coupler in which the polarization axes of the individual vanishing core waveguides thereof are oriented or aligned without the need to adjust the orientation of each individual VC waveguide.