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Integrated photonic polarization synthesizer and analyzer

Valdez CG, Miller AJ, Kroo AR, Roques-Carmes C, Miller DAB, Solgaard O

Light, science & applications, 2026

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Abstract

Polarization-resolved control and measurement of optical fields are essential for a wide range of photonic systems, including coherent communication, polarimetric sensing, and quantum information processing. We present a photonic integrated circuit architecture that enables the generation and analysis of arbitrary polarization states. The device provides reconfigurable access to the full polarization degree of freedom of coherent light within a single integrated platform. We experimentally demonstrate arbitrary polarization state generation spanning the Poincaré sphere, as well as Stokes vector measurement on a chip. Unlike conventional Stokes measurements that rely on direct detection, the polarization state in this architecture is inferred from the phase settings required to interferometrically combine polarization-demultiplexed optical fields. As a result, the optical signal itself does not need to be detected or absorbed and remains available for subsequent optical-domain processing. The devices are fabricated in a commercial foundry using CMOS-compatible processes, enabling scalable and reproducible integration. By combining polarization generation and analysis in a compact and stable photonic circuit, this work eliminates the need for external polarization optics and provides a foundation for robust, polarization-enabled photonic integrated systems.

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