Patent ID: 6859316

Claim:
An optical polarization beam splitter comprising: a first optical fiber having an end defining a first optical axis; a second optical fiber having an end defining a second optical axis; a third optical fiber having an end defining a third optical axis parallel to and spaced apart from said second optical axis; a collimating lens disposed along said first optical axis positioned to form collimated optical beam from said first optical fiber; a focusing lens disposed along a path of said collimated optical beam; and a birefringent walk-off crystal comprising: a first face adjacent to said focusing lens, said first face located at a focal plane of said focusing lens with an angle to said first optical axis to reduce an optical reflection; and a second face in contact with said ends of said second and third optical fibers; and a thickness between said first and second faces, wherein said thickness and said angle of the first face are selected such that a walk-off distance between the first component and the second component substantially matches a spacing between the second and third optical fibers, wherein a first component of said optical beam having a first polarization exiting said crystal at said second face enters said end of said second optical fiber along said second optical axis and a second component of said optical beam having a second polarization orthogonal to the polarization of said first polarization exiting said crystal at said second face enters said end of said third optical fiber along said third optical axis.