Study of polarization independence for high birefringence fiber sagnac interferometers

In this paper, we propose a simple experimental method to study the polarization-independent characteristics of optical components and experimentally research the polarization-independent characteristic of a birefringence fiber Sagnac interferometer 1. Firstly, we explain the meaning of polarization independence. Then we set up a scheme to study the effect of the input-light polarization state. The experimental results show that the intensity and the central wavelength of the output spectrum of a Sagnac interferometer are independent of the polarization state of the input light of the interferometer. The polarization-independent characteristics of a birefringence fiber Sagnac interferometer 1 are experimentally verified. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 46: 183–185, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20938