Patent ID: 7534990

Claim:
An optical device, comprising: an optical polarization beam splitter (PBS) having a first port, a second port and a third port, wherein light at a first optical polarization transmits through the PBS between the first port and the second port, and light at a second optical polarization orthogonal to the first optical polarization that enters at either of the second port and the third port is reflected to the other of the second port and the third port; a first optical path having a first end optically coupled to the second port of the PBS to receive light from the second port and to direct light to the second port; a polarization reflector coupled to a second end of the first optical path to reflect light received from the first optical path back to the first optical path with a reflected optical polarization that is orthogonal to a polarization of the light that initially enters the first optical path upon exiting the second port of the PBS; a second optical path having a first end optically coupled to the third port of the PBS to receive light from the second port and to direct light to the third port; and a reflector coupled to a second end of the second optical path to reflect light received from the second optical path back to the second optical path with a reflected optical polarization that is the same as an optical polarization of the light at the third port when entering the second optical path.