The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 24, 1998
Filed:
Aug. 01, 1997
Timothy E Dimmick, Glenville, PA (US);
Abstract
An inexpensive and accurate wavemeter for measuring the wavelength of monochromatic light is described. The device uses the wavelength dependent phase lag between principal polarization states of a length of birefringent material (retarder) as the basis for measuring the optical wavelength. The retarder is sandwiched between a polarizer and a polarizing beamsplitter and is oriented such that its principal axes are non-orthogonal to the axis of the polarizer and the principal axes of the beamsplitter. As a result of the disparity in propagation velocities between the principal polarization states of the retarder, the ratio of the optical power exiting the two ports of the polarizing beamsplitter is wavelength dependent. If the input wavelength is known to be within a specified range, the measurement of the power ratio uniquely determines the input wavelength. The device offers the advantage of trading wavelength coverage for increased resolution simply through the choice of the retarder length. Implementations of the device employing both bulk-optic components and fiber-optic components are described.