Fabrication of a side-polished fiber polarizer with a birefringent polymer overlay

The fabrication of an in-line fiber polarizer consisting of a side-polished fiber (SPF) with a birefringent polymer thin-film overlay, polyvinyl carbazole, is described. Typical devices had <0.5 -dB insertion loss and extinction ratios of ~36 dB. A weakly coupled waveguide model that accurately describes these SPF-thin-film overlay devices and guides in their fabrication is also presented.