Measurement of the elliptical birefringence of single-mode optical fibers

Abstract

The polarization properties of single-mode optical fibers are theoretically modeled with use of the Jones formalism. The fiber is described as an elliptical birefringent plate. The properties predicted by this model are discussed and lead to the development of a simple experimental method to extract the parameters that describe a real fiber. A magneto-optic method that measures the beat length of the fiber is also presented and gives a more complete description of the fiber. The validity of the model is then clearly established. Finally, the wavelength dependence of the parameters characteristic of the fiber is experimentally investigated.

Numerical and experimental analysis of the birefringence of large air fraction slightly unsymmetrical holey fibres

“…The phase birefringence of an optical fibre is generally deduced from the measurement of the beat length L b . Different methods, such as the measurement of the polarised transversally diffused signal [12], the polarisation time domain reflectometry method [13] or the magnetooptical method [14,15], are available. However, they are either very difficult to implement [12] or they cannot apply for HiBi fibres with L b as short as few mm [13][14][15].…”

“…Different methods, such as the measurement of the polarised transversally diffused signal [12], the polarisation time domain reflectometry method [13] or the magnetooptical method [14,15], are available. However, they are either very difficult to implement [12] or they cannot apply for HiBi fibres with L b as short as few mm [13][14][15]. We have measured the group birefringence of the tested fibres by means of the set-up shown on figure 6a, based on the well-known spectral analysis technique.…”

Polarization dynamics in nonlinear anisotropic fibers

“…This is true if the fiber is isotropic but can be completely false when the linear birefringence takes place. In practice, residual birefringence is always present, and the resulting beat length can be as low as 10 cm, as reported from magneto-optic measurements in Nd-doped fibers [19]. As a consequence, assuming a fiber length of about 20 m in standard fiber lasers, the length of the doped fiber spans from about the beat length (for weakly birefringent fibers) to several hundred times the beat length (for highly birefringent fibers).…”

Design of an endomicroscope including a resonant fiber-based microprobe dedicated to endoscopic polarimetric imaging for medical diagnosis

“…Thus, at the wavelength λ 2 , we measure the Mueller matrix of the assembly "fiber (forward path) + sample + fiber (backward path)". We take advantage of the fact that a single mode optical fiber can be considered as a concatenation of a large number of thin linear birefringent plates with some arbitrary orientations [20], without depolarization and diattenuation. In these conditions, as shown in [21], Mueller matrix M 1 of the fiber in double pass measured at λ 1 is given by:…”