1.
Rev Sci Instrum
; 82(1): 013106, 2011 Jan.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21280815
ABSTRACT
A bulk-optics, polarization-independent phase shifter for photonic quantum information applications is demonstrated. The device is based on a transverse electro-optic modulator in a Sagnac-type loop containing Faraday rotators. This direction-dependent polarization rotation in the loop is combined with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to form an optical switch with an on/off contrast of 96% and a switching time of 1.6 ns. We demonstrate that the device's operation maintains any arbitrary polarization state.