SC210 Hands-on Polarization-Related Measurements Workshop

Monday, March 22, 2010
1:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Danny Peterson¹, Tasshi Dennis², Ivan T. Lima Jr.³, Paul Williams²; ¹Verizon Business, USA, ²NIST, USA, ³North Dakota State Univ., USA
Level: Beginner (no background or minimal training is necessary to understand course material)


Course Description

In this Short Course you will measure all of the polarization-related parameters that are important to high-speed fiber optic communications. The course begins with a brief review of key polarization concepts and a short description of the course equipment and setups. The participants then divide into small groups and rotate among four lab stations. In Lab 1, you will control and measure the state and degree of polarization. You will also measure polarization cross-talk on polarization-maintaining fiber and create a polarization reference frame for absolute polarization measurements. Equipment for this lab includes a polarimeter, a DOP meter, various polarization controllers, and a polarization extinction ratio meter. Tasshi Dennis is the instructor. In Lab 2, you will measure the polarization dependent loss (PDL) of optical components (including filters) using the all-states and Mueller matrix PDL methods. You will also measure and correct for the polarization dependence of optical power meters and OSAs. Equipment for this lab includes a swept Mueller matrix setup, polarization controllers and scramblers, a PDL meter, an OSA and an optical power meter. Paul Williams is the instructor. In Lab 3, you will measure the polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of transmission paths with combinations of high-PMD fibers. The measurement methods used in this lab include Interferometry and Jones Matrix Eigenanalysis (JME). Danny Peterson is the instructor. In Lab 4, participants will explore the impact of first- and second-order PMD on 40Gb/s NRZ digital waveforms and verify the technical difficulties associated with PMD compensation. Equipment for this lab includes a PMD source, low- and high-birefringence fibers, an optical oscilloscope, an optical transmitter and a polarimeter. Ivan T. Lima Jr. is the instructor.


Benefits and Learning Objectives

This course should enable you to:

  • Operate a wide variety of polarization-related test equipment.
  • Measure polarization dependent loss (PDL) using all-states and Mueller methods and polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) using Interferometric and JME methods.
  • Demonstrate the effect of PMD on high-speed digital signals and describe the technical difficulties associated with PMD compensation.
  • Determine the outage probability in optical fiber transmission systems due to PMD-induced degradation.
  • Measure polarization cross talk “in-line” and at the end of a PM fiber.
  • Achieve optimum performance in polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber applications.
  • Measure the polarization dependent response (PDR) of everyday test equipment and describe how to overcome PDRs by means of high-speed polarization scrambling.
  • Describe the system-level effects of polarization-related impairments on long-haul optical transmission.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for engineers, technicians and managers involved with optical fiber, components or systems including those that operate at or above 10Gb/s.


Biography

Tasshi Dennis received the PhD in electrical engineering from Rice University. He is a staff scientist at NIST in the Optoelectronics Division working on high speed optical measurements. He is an OSA member.

Daniel Peterson is a distinguished member of the technical staff at Verizon. He is an internal advisor on optical technologies for Verizon's ULH network. He received a PhD in EE from the University of Texas. He is a senior member of IEEE.

Ivan Lima received a PhD in electrical engineering from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He is assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at North Dakota State. He is an IEEE senior member and was a co-recipient of 2002 Venice Summer School on PMD Award. Paul Williams has a PhD in physics from the University of Colorado. He is with the Optoelectronics Division of NIST working on polarization in high speed optical measurements. He is an OSA member.