US Patent 7573641 Free-space optical hybrid

An exemplary optical hybrid includes a 50/50 un-polarized beam splitter, a folding prism, a beam shifter, a spacer and a phase shifter such that from an input S-beam (signal) and an L-beam (reference), four outputs, S+L, S−L, S+jL, S−jL, are produced. The phase difference of S and L at the four output ports is phi_0, phi_0+90-degrees, phi_0+180-degree, phi_0+270-degree, where the phase difference between S and L at the S+L port is an arbitrary number phi_0 and the phase difference between S and L at the other output ports, S−L, S+jL, S−jL, is 90, 180 and 270, respectively, shifted from phi_0.