Impacts of polarization mode dispersion on the pulse-width with considering initial pulse chirp and fiber GVD

The impacts of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) on the pulse-width in linear systems have been investigated. The analytical solutions, including the effects of initial frequency chirp and group velocity dispersion (GVD), are derived. Analyses show that the pulse broadening effects induced by the second-order PMD depend on GVD and chirp parameter, which are different from those induced by the first-order PMD. An initially chirped Gaussian pulse is taken as an example, upon which analytical solutions of rms pulse-width are derived before and after the first-order PMD compensation. The first-order PMD compensator is also evaluated based on these solutions. The results show that the pulse broadening effects will be resisted efficiently by choosing appropriate GVD and chirp parameter; in general, the post-transmission compensation method will be less efficient than the PSP-transmission method.