Electrooptic polarization switch for multimode fibers.

An extensive theoretical analysis of an electrooptic polarization switch has been carried out. The main objective of the study is to ascertain whether it is possible to design such a switch with acceptable levels of optical crosstalk and control voltage if the device is used in conjunction with a multirmode optical fiber transmission system. The results of the study show that about 30-dB signal-to-crosstalk ratio can be obtained when an isotropic cubic material such as CdTe is used, and the fibers do not have an excessively large numerical aperture. Less isolation (~7 dB) can be obtained when using an anisotropic material with a small birefringence such as LiTaO(3). Drive voltages in either case range from 10 V to 50 V.