Three-stage polarization mode dispersion compensator capable of compensating second-order polarization mode dispersion

The impacts of polarization-dependent dispersion on systems are investigated briefly, based on which a three-stage polarization mode dispersion compensator has been proposed to compensate polarization-dependent chromatic dispersion and the principal states of polarization rotation rate at the same time. The two possible operating points of this compensator are also proposed. Numerical results show that the maximum tolerable polarization mode dispersion value after three-stage compensation has been improved by 17% per bit slot compared with using a two-stage compensator.