Twisted optical-fiber-based acousto-optic tunable filter controlled by the flexural acoustic polarization

Abstract

The spectral characteristics of twisted fiber-based acousto-optic filters are theoretically investigated. The influences of three types of flexural acoustic polarization states — linear, circular, and elliptical polarizations — on filter spectra are studied under realistic experimental conditions: a fiber length of 5 – 20 cm and a circumferential fiber twist angle of < 12π. We will analytically show that either a single- or a dual-resonance filter spectrum is achievable depending on the input polarization state of applied acoustic waves and that the spectral position of each resonance peak can be scanned continuously and linearly in the wavelength domain by using the fiber twist. The feasible spectral tuning range of the resonances is calculated to > 80 nm for a twist angle of 12π. We will describe how the transmission of each resonance peak can also be selectively tuned by adjusting the ellipticity of the input acoustic polarization from linear to circular. The results illustrate that our approach exploiting a combination of the fiber twist and acoustic polarization management offers an excellent route to the spectral shaping of all-fiber acousto-optic devices in that the transmission of multiple resonances, as well as their spectral positions, are readily and individually controllable in a single device configuration. In addition, we also propose a novel cosine apodization method to suppress the undesirable sidelobe spectra occurring between the dual resonance peaks. The technique is based on a cosine modulation of the AO coupling strength along the fiber, which is achieved by using a combination of the fiber’s circumferential twist and the linear acoustic polarization. The proposed scheme is useful to minimize the crosstalk occurring between adjacent resonance peaks. We highlight that our approach is directly applicable to matched filtering as robust, adaptable, stable, and versatile optical filters.