Improved degree of polarization-based differential group delay measurements

Abstract

The time-averaged Stokes vectors obtained after polarization-scrambled light containing multiple, independently polarized frequency components traverses an optical fiber collectively form a surface in Stokes space. The geometry of this surface can be directly related to the polarization mode dispersion of the fiber. This paper examines both numerically and experimentally an improved method for performing such measurements. Additionally, it quantifies the surfaces associated with input pulses containing an arbitrary set of equally spaced frequencies. © 2014 Optical Society of America.