Optical Isolators

Optical isolators are vital devices for eliminating the undesirable effect of return beams in high-speed optical fiber transmittance routes and amplifiers. Optical isolation also protects your equipment from dangerous ground loops, spikes and surges.

Conoptics manufactures a family of modular Faraday rotators and interchangeable accessories which can be combined to perform various isolation functions.

The unique feature of a Faraday rotator is its non-reciprocity, that is, the fact that the "handedness" of the polarization rotation it imparts on a transmitted beam is dependent on the beam's propagation direction. By far the most common application of Faraday rotators is their use in optical isolators, devices used to protect laser sources from harmful back reflections.

Faraday Rotators
The Faraday rotators included in the 700 Series consist of one or more high flux NIB permanent magnets and a terbium glass element. Tuning is accomplished by moving the glass between regions of high and low field strength. An important feature of the Conoptics design is that the glass does not rotate as it is moved thereby eliminating the possibility of transmitted beam nutation due to residual wedge. Polarization rotation is a function not only of the axial magnetic field strength, but also of the glass length, L, and its Verdet constant, V. More precisely, on axis where z is along the propagation direct.

All products are supplied with (2) Glan type polarizers with double escape points and mounting base.

Conoptics 700 Series Optical Isolators