Analysis of an integrated optical coherent receiver with optical state of polarization control

An integrated optical coherent receiver with continuous state of polarization control is proposed and analyzed. The receiver consists of an integrated optical polarization rotator, a state of polarization detector and a balanced mixer receiver. Continuous state of polarization control can be achieved by using two polarization rotators in series and feeding the polarization rotator outputs into the state of polarization detector whose subsequent output is used to control the voltage settings on the polarization rotator. For the general case, the polarization rotator is comprised of two phase shifters and a TE - TM mode converter. The state of polarization detector stage consists of a δβ directional coupler mode splitter. A novel fabrication technique for achieving efficient polarization splitting is discussed. A balanced mixer receiver is implemented using a passive directional coupler with 50/50 power splitting. The need for a passive device is demonstrated and a method for achieving accurate power splitting ratios using the proton exchange fabrication technique is discussed and experimentally demonstrated. An analysis of the performance of such a system including the balanced mixer receiver is carried out to identify the critical areas of fabrication. Discussion is also given to the function and characteristics of the electronic control loop.