Temperature controlled interferometer for phase demodulation

1. A demodulator comprising:

a. an optical beam splitter that splits a phase modulated optical signal into a first phase modulated optical signal propagating in a first optical path comprising free space and a second phase modulated optical signal propagating in a second optical path comprising a dielectric medium, the second phase modulated optical signal being delayed relative to the first phase modulated optical signal by a differential delay time that is proportional to at least one of a temperature and a refractive index of the dielectric medium;

b. a temperature controller that is in thermal contact with the dielectric medium, the temperature controller changing a temperature of the dielectric medium to control at least one of a thermal expansion/contraction and a temperature dependent change in the refractive index of the dielectric medium, thereby changing the differential phase delay; and

c. an optical beam splitter/combiner having a first input that is optically coupled to an output of the first optical path and a second input that is optically coupled to an output of the second optical path, a constructive output of the optical beam splitter/combiner generating a first demodulated optical signal and a destructive interference optical signal generating a second demodulated optical signal.

2. The demodulator of claim 1 wherein the phase modulated optical signal comprises at least one of a RZ-type and a NRZ-type modulation signal.

3. The demodulator of claim 1 wherein the differential delay is less than or equal to one bit period of the phase modulated optical signal.

4. The demodulator of claim 1 wherein the differential delay is chosen to improve at least one of signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate, and dispersion tolerance of the first and second demodulated optical signals.

5. The demodulator of claim 1 wherein the differential delay is chosen to optimize at least one of signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate, and dispersion tolerance of the first and second demodulated optical signals.

6. The demodulator of claim 1 wherein the temperature controller controls the temperature of the dielectric medium to change both the thermal expansion/contraction and the temperature dependent change in the refractive index of the dielectric medium.

7. A method of demodulating a phase modulated optical signal, the method comprising:

a. receiving a phase modulated optical signal;

b. splitting the phase modulated optical signal into a first phase modulated optical signal propagating in a first optical path comprising free space and a second phase modulated optical signal propagating in a second optical path comprising a dielectric medium;

c. delaying the second phase modulated optical signal relative to the first phase modulated optical signal by a differential delay time which is determined by at least one of a temperature and a refractive index of the dielectric medium; and

d. combining an output of the first optical path and an output of the second optical path, thereby generating a first demodulated optical signal and a second demodulated optical signal.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the phase modulated optical signal comprises one of a DPSK and a DQPSK modulated optical signal.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the differential delay is approximately equal to less than or equal to one bit period of the phase modulated optical signal.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the differential delay is adjusted so that the first and second demodulated optical signals have an ITU channel spacing.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising scanning the temperature of the dielectric medium to improve at least one of signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate, and dispersion tolerance of the first and second demodulated optical signals.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising scanning the temperature of the dielectric medium to optimize at least one of signal-to-noise ratio, bit error rate, and dispersion tolerance of the first and second demodulated optical signals.

13. A demodulator comprising:

a. an optical beam splitter that splits a phase modulated optical signal into a first phase modulated optical signal propagating in a first optical path and a second phase modulated optical signal propagating in a second optical path comprising a dielectric medium, the second phase modulated optical signal being delayed relative to the first phase modulated optical signal by a differential delay time that is proportional to at least one of a temperature and a refractive index of the dielectric medium;

b. a temperature controller that is in thermal contact with the dielectric medium, the temperature controller changing a temperature of the dielectric medium to control both the thermal expansion/contraction and the temperature dependent change in the refractive index of the dielectric medium to change both the thermal expansion/contraction and the temperature dependent change in the refractive index of the dielectric medium; and

c. an optical beam splitter/combiner having a first input that is optically coupled to an output of the first optical path and a second input that is optically coupled to an output of the second optical path, a constructive output of the optical beam splitter/combiner generating a first demodulated optical signal and a destructive interference optical signal generating a second demodulated optical signal.