Feature

Time-reversal Operator for the State of Polarization

Mario Martinelli

The concept of an Ortho-Conjugated Mirror (OCM), or Faraday Rotator Mirror, was first demonstrated in 1989 and has recently found application in the field of fiber optic circuits1 and fiber optic current sensors. The OCM polarizes the light and conveys the time-reversal properties displayed by the Phase Conjugated Mirror (PCM) for the optical phase. Both devices effectively retrace optical paths, i.e., circuits where light maintains a mirror symmetry, and both devices return the light in the opposite state, which means reverse propagation direction for the PCM and orthogonal state of polarization (SOP) for the OCM.

Publish Date: 01 December 1993