High-resolution, nonmechanical approach to polarization-dependent transmission measurements

Author

Craig, Rex M. ; Gilbert, Sarah L. ; Hale, Paul D.

Author_Institution

Nat. Inst. of Stand. & Technol., Boulder, CO, USA

Volume

16

Issue

7

fYear

1998

fDate

7/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1285

Lastpage

1294

Abstract

We have implemented an automated, nonmechanical approach to the measurement of polarization dependent loss (and, equivalently, gain). We use a deterministic fixed-states method to derive Mueller matrix elements from intensity measurements at specific polarization states. Voltage-modulated liquid-crystal variable retarders set the polarization states. Synchronous detection is employed to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the system and thereby allow measurement resolution to better than 0.001 dB. We present polarization-dependent loss measurements from 0.0016 to 0.56 dB at 1550 nm to verify performance

Keywords

liquid crystal devices; matrix algebra; optical fibre communication; optical fibre polarisation; optical fibre testing; optical loss measurement; optical resolving power; 0.0016 to 0.56 dB; 1550 nm; Mueller matrix elements; automated nonmechanical approach; deterministic fixed-states method; high-resolution nonmechanical approach; intensity measurements; measurement resolution; performance verification; polarization dependent loss measurement; polarization states; polarization-dependent loss measurements; polarization-dependent transmission measurements; signal-to-noise ratio; specific polarization states; synchronous detection; voltage-modulated liquid-crystal variable retarders; Bit error rate; Gain measurement; Instruments; Loss measurement; Page description languages; Polarization mode dispersion; Propagation losses; Sampling methods; Signal resolution; Signal to noise ratio;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.701407

Filename

701407