We demonstrate alternate wavelength switching in a widely tunable, dualwavelength Tm3þ-doped fiber laser operating at 1900 nm. A comb filter based on a Sagnac loop incorporating a length of high-birefringence fiber is used to define the lasing wavelengths. By simple variation of a polarization controller within the laser cavity, alternate and sequential switching between singleand dual-waveleng...

PURPOSE We identified candidate optical coherence tomography (OCT) markers for early glaucoma diagnosis. Time variation of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, phase retardation, birefringence, and reflectance using polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) were measured in three non-human primates with induced glaucoma in one eye. We characterized time variation of RN...

We present a method to accurately measure the group birefringence variation with temperature in high-birefringence polarization-maintaining (PM) fibers using a distributed polarization analyzer. By analyzing polarization cross-talk peaks purposely induced at both ends of a PM fiber, the temperature coefficient of group birefringence can be accurately obtained. We confirm the theoretical predict...

Widely used descriptions and relationships for birefringence and polarization-dependent loss (PDL), developed primarily for ultraviolet-induced long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) written in optical fiber, can be invalid for other types of LPFG. The understanding of PDL is expanded to include LPFGs with birefringence in the core only, in the cladding only, and in both the core and the cladding. ...

A fiber sensor system based on high-birefringence optical fiber and a frequency-stabilized He-Ne Zeeman laser (lambda = 0.6328 microm) has been demonstrated. The small path-length changes of interest are extracted from the amplitude or phase of the laser beat frequency by using either the phase-sensitive detection or the phase-demodulation technique. A minimum detectable optical phase delay of ...

Birefringence signals from mammalian and frog hearts were studied. The period between excitation and the onset of contraction in which optical signals were free of movement artifact was determined by changes in scattered incandescent light and changes in laser diffraction patterns. The birefringence signal preceding contraction was found to behave as a change in retardation and was not contamin...

We experimentally observe polarization-locked vector solitons in optical fiber. Polarization locked-vector solitons use nonlinearity to preserve their polarization state despite the presence of birefringence. To achieve conditions where the delicate balance between nonlinearity and birefringence can survive, we studied the polarization evolution of the pulses circulating in a laser constructed ...

The unintentional birefringence induced by the irregular structure in photonic crystal fibers is analyzed numerically using the plane wave expansion method. The statistical correlations between the birefringence and the various irregularities are obtained. The birefringence is found to be largely dependent on the fiber design parameters as well as the degree of the irregularity. And the large p...

| Polarization state selection, polarization state dynamics, and polarization switching of a quantum-well Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser for the lowest order transverse spatial mode of the laser is explored using a recently developed model that incorporates material birefrin-gence, the saturable dispersion characteristic of semiconductor physics,and the sensitivity of the transitions in...