State of Polarization in Open- and Closed-loop Helices of Single-mode Fibres

The state of polarization in helically wound single-mode fibres is described in terms of coupled-mode equations and the Mueller matrix for an elliptically birefringent single-mode fibre in the quasi-monochromatic case. Possible depolarization has been accounted for by means of the mutual correlation function |γ| between eigenpolarization modes. The polarization state in closed-loop fibre-optic helices has been studied experimentally under single- and dual-mode operation. It has been shown that the closed-loop set-up can be used for the development of compact fibre-optic sensors.