Realization and study of a voltage operated fiber optic wave plate

摘要

When light propagates through some specific crystals, the phase difference between the ordinary and extraordinary waves can be altered by changing the thickness of the crystal. Such a phase difference maintaining crystals are called wave plates. The interrelation between electric fields and optical phenomena may be conveniently used to realize such wave plates. In this paper we have designed a system to study the various electro-optic effects such as Kerr effect and electrostriction associated with single mode fibre. The system basically consists of two circular aluminium plates for applying electric field, between which a dielectric made of a single mode single layer fibre coil is placed. The effects of electric field caused by the voltage applied across the plates on the polarization of incident light is observed and analyzed. The experimental setup for study the various electro-optic effects and the results obtained are presented. It is observed that the system can be faithfully used to simulate different crystal wave plates associated with many optical sensor systems.