Lumen Intellectual Property Services
Optical interleaver
 An optical interleaver having a reflector that reflects an optical signal from one or more input/output ports back through the elements of the interleaver in reverse order to the input/output ports. The interleaver generally comprises a first birefringent element optically coupled to at least three input/output ports, first and second polarization rotators, a wavelength filter, a second birefringent element and the reflector. The interleaver may further comprise a compensation plate that compensates for phase differences due to different optical path lengths for ordinary and extraordinary rays in one of the birefringent elements. This configuration reduces the number of components required for the interleaver and allows the use of shorter birefringent elements. The interleaver may be configured to operate as a multiplexer, a de-multiplexer, or a router. 
Oplink Communications, Inc.
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Wei-Zhong
Li