Abstract

This paper describes the design and construction of a hybrid polarization-diversity balanced receiver front end for coherent communication systems. In a switched subscriber multichannel system, polarization diversity has advantages over other methods of handling random polarization differences between incoming channels. The receiver consists of a lithium niobate polarization-diversity chip, an array of four P-I-N photodetectors, and two microwave amplifiers. Each of the component parts is described below, followed by a description of the performance of the complete assembly.

© 1991 Optical Society of America