United States Patent [19] [u] Patent Number: 4,795,233
Chang [45] Date of Patent: Jan. 3,1989
[54] FIBER OPTIC POLARIZER
[75] Inventor: Chin L. Chang, Phoenix, Ariz.
[73] Assignee: Honeywell Inc., Minneapolis, Minn.
[21] Appl. No.: 23,588
[22] Filed: Mar. 9,1987
[51] Int. CI.* G02B5/30
[52] U.S. CI 350/96.29; 350/96.15;
350/164; 350/395; 350/406
[58] Field of Search 350/96.15, 96.16, 96.29,
350/96.30, 394, 395, 400, 401, 406, 162.17, 162.2, 163, 164
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 4,575,187 3/1986 Howard et al 350/96.33
4,589,728 5/1986 Dyott et al 350/96.30
4,666,235 5/1987 Pavlath 350/96.29 X
4,695,123 9/1987 Chang et al 350/96.29 X
4,725,113 2/1988 Chang et al 350/96.15
Primary Examiner—John D. Lee
Assistant Examiner—Phan T. Heartney
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Robert A. Pajak
[57] ABSTRACT
In the present invention, a multilayer stack of alternating layers of a metal and a dielectric is deposited directly onto the surface of an optical fiber that has been processed to remove the cladding from one side of the fiber. The multilayer metal-dielectric structure is constructed to give high birefringence and large differential attenuation for two orthogonal polarizations.
24 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
