Patent ID: 6996298

Claim:
An all-fiber broadband polarization combiner which has a Mach-Zehader (MZ) structure having an entry coupler and an exit coupler interconnected in a central zone with two standard single mode (SM) fibers which form two arms of in said central zone of the MZ, said entry coupler having two input wins also made of SM fibers to which are spliced polarization maintaining (PM) fibers oriented so that polarization X in one PM fiber is orthogonal to polarization Y in the other PM fiber, and said exit coupler having two output arms also made of SM fibers, which constitute the exit arms of the broadband polarization combiner, said entry coupler being a polarization pump combiner (PPC) and said exit coupler being a wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) coupler which has essentially the same spectral spacing and is centered to essentially the same wavelength as the PPC, and a phase shift Δφ of π being induced between the two arms of the ventral zone.