Dielectrically actuated attenuator at 1.55 m

We prepared a variable optical attenuator (VOA) at λ ∼ 1.55 m using dielectrically actuated liquids. This VOA works in the principle of absorption. Electro-optical characteristics of this VOA were measured in both transmissive and reflective modes. Compared to transmissive mode, reflective mode coul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics communications 2018-08, Vol.2 (8)
Main Authors: Wang, Xiahui, Ren, Hongwen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
adaptive optics
dielectric liquid
electro-optical device
liquid
optical attenuation
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Summary:We prepared a variable optical attenuator (VOA) at λ ∼ 1.55 m using dielectrically actuated liquids. This VOA works in the principle of absorption. Electro-optical characteristics of this VOA were measured in both transmissive and reflective modes. Compared to transmissive mode, reflective mode could offer much larger attenuation without changing other performances. By applying a voltage of 27 Vrms, this VOA could obtain ∼19 dB in transmissive mode, and 38 dB in reflective mode. It had insertion loss (IL) of ∼0.76 dB with negligible polarization dependent loss (PDL) at various voltages. Due to its competitive features such as voltage actuation, optical isotropy, and large attenuation with zero PDL, this VOA in reflective mode has potential applications in fiber-optic switches, sensing, and other infrared attenuators.
ISSN:2399-6528
DOI:10.1088/2399-6528/aabc41