An analytical formula for the mean differential group delay of randomly birefringent spun fibers

• Published in: Journal of lightwave technology Vol. 21; no. 7; pp. 1635 - 1643
• Main Authors: Galtarossa, A., Palmieri, L., Pizzinat, A., Marks, B.S., Menyuk, C.R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.07.2003; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Birefringence; Circuit properties; Computer science; Delay; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Fibers; Group delay; Impairment; Integrated optics. Optical fibers and wave guides; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Measurement techniques; Optical and optoelectronic circuits; Optical fiber polarization; Optical propagation; Optical pulses; Polarization mode dispersion; Spinning; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); spun fibers; Optical telecommunication; fiber birefringence; Beat length; Polarization mode dispersion; birefringence correlation length; Pulse propagation; Birefringence; Optical fiber communication; High bit rate; Spinning; polarization-mode dispersion (PMD); Optical fiber; Group delay; High rate transmission
• ISSN: 0733-8724; 1558-2213
• DOI: 10.1109/JLT.2003.814385

Polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) is a serious impairment for high-bit-rate optical telecommunication systems. It is known that spinning the fiber during the drawing process drastically reduces the PMD. However, the analysis of pulse propagation through a randomly birefringent spun fiber is still at an early stage. In this paper, we derive an analytical formula for the mean differential group delay of a periodically spun fiber with random birefringence. We model the birefringence with fixed modulus and a random orientation under the condition that the spin period is shorter than the beat length. Finally, we numerically compare the analytical results with those given by the random-modulus model of birefringence, and we obtain good agreement as long as the short-period assumption is satisfied.