Month: July 2021

What are Different Types of Components in Fiber Optic Systems?

Fiber-optic communication is the ideal choice for the transmission of data beyond gigabits. It is used to transmit all kinds of data in form of light signals over long distances for efficient and fast communication. A fiber-optic system uses lightwave technology to transmit data over fiber cables at low attenuation and maximum transmission security.

To transmit light signals over optical fiber in fiber optic communication and fiber laser systems, there are a lot of components such as a 1064nm bandpass filter, polarization optical isolator, single-mode fused coupler, and many more for accurate and efficient light signal transmission. Here’re some of the most widely used fiber optic components in fiber optic systems:

1064nm bandpass filter

Single-Mode Fused Coupler: Single-mode fused couplers are used to split a portion of a light signal. They are widely used in transmission equipment and amplifier power control systems for feedback control and performance monitoring. Single-mode fused couplers are available in a wide range of length, polarization-dependent loss value, split ratio, sensitivity, and packaging to meet different types of applications in optical networks.

Band Pass Filter: Bandpass filters are used to block unwanted signals in fiber communication and laser systems. Some of the common characteristics of bandpass filters include high return loss, low insertion loss, high isolation, high-power handling capability, and excellent environmental stability. They are extensively used in fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, high-speed communication systems, and instrumentation applications. Some examples of bandpass filters are the 1064nm bandpass filter, 1030nm bandpass filter, and 1053nm bandpass filter.

Polarization Insensitive Optical Isolator: It is an optical device that guides light in one direction and reflects back unwanted scattered and reflected light signals at any polarization state. Optical isolators have the characteristics such as high isolation, low insertion loss, and high return loss. They are widely used fiber lasers, EDFAs, transmitters, Raman amplifiers, and fiber optic communication systems to eliminate back reflection and backscattering. They are available in a wide range of wavelength and power handling to meet different requirements.

Polarization Insensitive Optical Circulator: It is a high-performance optical device that is used to route incoming signals to different ports. For example, if you want to route an incoming light signal from port 1 to port 2, optical circulators act as signal routers to route light signals from an input fiber to output fibe.

Faraday Mirror: It is a passive optical device that provides rotation of the input light at an angle of 45 or 90 degrees depending on the polarization state. It is widely used in measurement applications and fiber optic networks to eliminate the polarization sensitivity of the system. Faraday mirrors are extensively used in Brillouin amplifier systems, fiber interferometers, fiber optic antenna remoting systems, and fiber laser systems.

Pump and Signal Combiner: It is an optical device designed for high-power applications with exceptional characteristics. They can combine multiple pump lasers into one fiber to create a high-power laser source for applications in industries like the military, telecommunication, and medical.

These are some of the most common optical components used in fiber-optic networks, amplifiers, transmitters, optic laser systems, and other fiber optic communication systems across industries. At DK Photonics, we sell optical components in a wide range of wavelengths, lose value, power handling capability, and sensitivity to meet custom requirements. You can also contact us with your desired specifications and quote a custom component as per your unique requirement. We can help you with all kinds of custom solutions to meet your fiber optic system requirements. 

Optical Passive Components and Their Applications

A passive optical network is a point-to-multipoint network architecture to serve multiple premises. It allows communication service providers to serve several customers using a single connection. There is no need for any active components for electrical-to-optical or optical-to-electrical conversion during the operations. Some of the most common optical passive components include optical couplers, optical splitters, optical filters, optical connectors, optical attenuators, optical circulators, optical isolators, optical switches, and optical add/drop multiplexers. These components have become a promising solution for modern-day telecommunication needs.

Top 5 most widely used Optical Passive Components

Optical Coupler/Splitter

Optical fiber couplers/splitters are the most popular optical passive components for wavelength multi-demultiplexing of optical signals. An optical coupler is used to combine the signal from different fibers while an optical splitter is used to separate light signals in different fibers. In general, there is no significant difference between a coupler and splitter as an optical device. The functional difference is associated with the end you use as the input or the output as per your connection needs.

Optical Filter

An optical filter is also a wavelength multi/demultiplexing device but with a dielectric thin film that allows you to add or drop any specific wavelength during a fiber communication. The dielectric thin film is a multilayered film with different refractive indexes deposited on different layers to enable specific wavelengths to reflect or transmit at the layer interfaces. It is basically used to filter out a specific wavelength in the midst of fiber as per specific settings.

Optical fiber communication has brought us a fast and efficient mode of data transmission. There are various kinds of optical components and technologies used to achieve maximum reliability, functionality, and economical efficiency of an optical network. Optical passive components play a significant role in today’s data networks and FTTH applications to establish effective fiber communication.

Optical Connector

Optical connectors or fiber optic connectors are used to create a temporary joint connection between two optical fibers, cables, or devices. There are different types of optical connectors have been developed by manufacturers of optical passive components to meet different communication needs. The most common optical connectors include ST, LC, FC, SC, and MTRJ style connectors.

Optical Attenuator

Optical attenuators are fiber optic devices used to reduce the power of transmitted light in a controlled manner. It is used to:

  • Preserve receivers from saturation state
  • Balance wavelength power
  • Equalize node power

There are four types of optical attenuators available in the market for power balancing in fiber communication – plug-style attenuators, in-line attenuators, variable attenuators, and fixed attenuators.

Optical Switch

Optical switches are the fiber optic devices used to control physical connection between input and output ports. They are mainly used in:

  • Automatic measurement
  • Optical fiber network remote monitoring
  • Transplanting multiplexing
  • Optical path monitoring system
  • Optical fiber sensing system
  • Optical device testing

DK Photonics is a world-class manufacturer of high-quality optical passive components for fiber laser and Optical Fibers applications. We offer a low-cost and high-quality option for all the components for the full-range solution of any passive optical network project.

Pump Combiners: Types and Properties You Should Know About Before Placing an Order

Pump Combiner is a passive component, widely used in different applications such as fiber laser, fiber amplifier, high power EDFA, biomedical systems, sensor systems, and more. They are made using the Fused Biconical Taper (FBT) technique. According to their design principle, several pump fibers are arranged around a signal fiber and the whole bundle that is typically surrounded by a glass tube is tapered down in a way that its dimensions align perfectly with that of the active fiber.

Pump combiners are available in three different constructions, namely:

  • Multimode NX1
  • (N+1)x1 Pump and Single-mode Signal Combiners
  • (N+1)x1 Pump and PM Signal Combiners                                                                             
  1. Multimode Pump Combiners

Multimode Pump Combiners are usually the ones that couple 7 or 19 multimode sources directly into cladding-pumped fiber. They combine the optical power from different optical fibers to create a high power output.  

Multimode combiners facilitate highly efficient power transfer to cater to the needs of high-power applications like direct diode material processing and pump cascading while ensuring maximum brightness conservation.

The main applications of multimode pump combiners are fiber lasers, fiber laser combination, industrial, and research. They are available in different configurations of N x 1, such as 2×1, 3×1, 4×1, 7×1, 19×1, 37×1, and so on.   

  • (N+1)x1 Pump and Single-mode Signal Combiners

These types of combiners are designed to couple 6 or 18 multimode sources and 1 SM signal source either to provide a combined power output or to use with a cladding-pumped fiber.

In other words, single-mode combiners are those pump combiners where the signal input is transferred via a single-mode fiber and not the pump inputs. Pump inputs are typically used in multimode pump combiners.

The signal-fiber design is often used in the military and medical industries. It can also be used to design an amplifier for use in telecommunications.

  • (N+1)x1 Pump and PM Signal Combiners          

These combiners are built to couple 6 multimode sources and 1 polarization-maintaining (PM) source to produce combined power output or be used with a PM cladding-pumped fiber. Polarization-maintaining combiners are said to possess polarization-maintaining properties for the signal only.

Just like other pump combiners, they are also used to design amplifiers that require signal polarization outputs for use in industrial, military, medical and telecommunications applications.

Key Properties to Look for in Quality Pump Combiners

  • The diameters of fibers should be the same to ensure high-quality fusion splicing with the proper matching of core positions.
  • The pump fibers must have high compatibility with fibers of pump laser diodes. The core diameter and numerical aperture must be at least as high as those of pump diodes’ pigtails. While larger values of pump input fibers don’t affect power coupling efficiency, it might mean that the pump brightness won’t be utilized fully.
  • The intensity profile of the fundamental signal fiber mode should match the fundamental mode of the active fiber core. It will help you couple signal light into the fundamental mode efficiently.
  • The pump light should suffer minimum losses when propagating through the combiner. It will help ensure a coupling efficiency higher than 90 percent and minimized thermal damage.
  • In a pump or signal combiner, there should be only a minimal loss of brightness.
  • The combiner should withstand the intended optical power levels.

Whenever you buy pump combiners, keep all these factors in mind to ensure that you make the right choice. Besides, you also have the freedom to order customized pump combiners. So, if you don’t find the pump combiner you are looking for, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the manufacturer and discuss your requirements.