Attenuation and modal dispersion models for spatially multiplexed co-propagating helical optical channels in step index fibers

Spatial reuse of optical frequencies has been shown to be possible through a novel spatial domain multiplexing (SDM) technique that uses spatial multiplexer at the input end to launch multiple channels of the same wavelength inside a single strand of carrier fiber and then employs spatial filtering methods to de-multiplex the different optical channels at the output end. The individual SDM channels are confined to dedicated spatial locations inside the fiber while traversing through it owing to helical propagation of light. This presents attenuation and dispersion models of such a system. Experimentally obtained beam profile and resultant crosstalk of two such spatially multiplexed co-propagating SDM channels of the same wavelength over standard step index multimode optical fibers are also presented.     

Time domain algorithm for calculating spatially measured dispersion in optical fibers

Simple and fast algorithm for calculating spatially fiber chromatic dispersion is discussed. This method is applied on the data collected from measuring the Stokes wave of the back-reflected Rayleigh scattered signal in optical fiber under test. The data analysis is performed in the time domain contrary to already known analysis in frequency domain. The results achieved in the time domain match well with those in the frequency domain.     

Modeling dispersion in optical fibers: applications to dispersion tailoring and dispersion compensation

The phenomenon of temporal pulse dispersion, which is a key characteristic of an optical fiber communication system is described from the first principles. Beginning with the basics of dispersion in a bulk medium, these concepts are then applied to propagation of a pulse in an optical fiber. Details of modeling dispersion are then described in the context of dispersion tailoring and dispersion compensation with a view to form the foundation for subsequent chapters on dispersion compensation that follow in this report. Basic physics behind the design target for dispersion compensating fibers is discussed, which should be useful to fiber designers.     

Optical-frequency dependent modal birefringence and polarization mode dispersion of birefringent single-mode optical fibers over a broadband optical wavelength range

Optical-frequency dependent polarization mode dispersion as well as modal birefringence of three kinds of specially designed hollow-induced birefringent single-mode fiber are measured over an optical frequency range between 345 and 410 THz by optical frequency-domain interferometry.     

Circularly symmetric modal interferometers: Equalization wavelength and equivalent step determination for matched-cladding fibers

An LP₀₁-LP₀₂ modal interferometer fabricated from a standard matched-cladding telecommunication fiber is studied in the visible wavelength range. Its spectral response in the vicinity of the LP₀₁/LP₀₂ equalization wavelength is used to characterize the fiber by the determination of an equivalent step index profile.     

Optical fibers and fiber dispersion compensators for high-speed optical communication

In order to meet the requirements necessary for advanced optical fiber transmission schemes that enable larger transmission capacity, higher efficiency and/or lower transmission costs per bit, optical fiber technologies are still evolving toward ultimate performance. Recent developmental activities have realized a number of improved performance optical fibers, such as ultra-low loss or ultra-low nonlinearity fibers and various types of dispersion-modified fibers. Fiber-based dispersion compensators or dispersion compensating fibers have also become one of the most essential optical components that support high-speed large capacity optical transmission. Very recently, the dispersion compensating fibers have further evolved into dispersion-managed optical transmission lines, which are now being actually deployed in transoceanic submarine optical cable networks.     

Soliton models in resonant and nonresonant optical fibers

In this review, considering the important linear and nonlinear optical effects like group velocity dispersion, higher order dispersion, Kerr nonlinearity, self-steepening, stimulated Raman scattering, birefringence, self-induced transparency and various inhomogeneous effects in fibers, the completely integrable concept and bright, dark and self-induced transparency soliton models in nonlinear fiber optics are discussed. Considering the above important optical effects, the different completely integrable soliton models in the form of nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS), NLS-Maxwell-Bloch (MB) type equations reported in the literature are discussed. Finally, solitons in stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) system is briefly discussed.     

Array of concentric CMOS photodiodes for detection and de-multiplexing of spatially modulated optical channels

A novel octagonal structure of photodiodes using standard CMOS technology has been developed to serve as a de-multiplexer for spatially multiplexed fiber optic communication systems. Concentric photodiodes of six different structure types are investigated for this purpose. The responsivity of the fabricated devices lies within ten percent of the theoretical values at 660 nm. The concept is demonstrated for silicon and the geometry can be extended to other materials commonly used in optical communications. This presents structural details, device model and equivalent circuits for these devices. Test results for detector responsivity, leakage currents and quantum efficiency are also presented.     

Cascaded Raman generation in optical fibers: influence of chromatic dispersion and Rayleigh backscattering

We study experimentally the influence of chromatic dispersion and Rayleigh backscattering on cascaded Raman generation in silica optical fibers. Effects ranging from enhanced spectral broadening of the Stokes orders to generation of higher Stokes order at unexpected wavelengths are observed. Additionally, we show that four-wave-mixing processes can quench the noisy Rayleigh lasing lines generated in power Raman amplifiers. Our observations are confirmed by numerical simulations.     

Suppressing chromatic dispersion fluctuation for broadband optical parametric gain in highly nonlinear tellurite microstructured optical fibers

Optical Review - We investigate the effect of chromatic dispersion fluctuation on the performance of fiber optical parametric amplification (FOPA) using tellurite hybrid microstructured optical...     

Simultaneous dispersion and non-linearity compensation with mid-span optical phase conjugation and distributed Raman amplifier for a sub-carrier multiplexed optical transmission link

Optical phase conjugation (OPC) and distributed Raman amplifier (DRA) combination (OPC-DRA) is demonstrated as a potential enabling solution for simultaneous reduction of fiber non-linearities and dispersion compensation of a sub-carrier multiplexed (SCM) optical transmission link. The present work is focused on the use of OPC-DRA combination for system performance improvement in terms of composite second order distortion (CSO) and carrier to noise ratio (CNR) of the SCM link. The analysis further shows that, introduction of DRA with proper pumping scheme significantly reduce fiber non-linearity resulting in improvement of the system performance in terms of CNR, compared to the situation where only mid-way optical phase conjugation is used.     

Modulational instability and parametric amplification induced by loss dispersion in optical fibers

We show that modulational instability may arise even in the normal group-velocity dispersion regime of an optical fiber when the fiber loss (gain) varies depending on the wavelength. A simple analytical expression for the instability gain is obtained, which reveals that the odd-order terms of the loss dispersion are responsible for this phenomenon. The instability gain is measured experimentally in an optical-parametric-amplification configuration. Large parametric gain is induced in a non-phase-matched regime as we apply narrow band loss at the idler wavelength.     

Investigation of dispersion characteristic in MI- and MII-type single mode optical fibers

Dispersion characteristic of MI and MII type single mode optical fibers is analytically investigated. For this purpose modal analysis of these fibers to obtain possible wave vectors for given system parameters are done. Then using numerical evaluation of the presented analytical relations, chromatic and waveguide dispersions are calculated. The effects of geometrical and optical parameters of the fibers on dispersion characteristics are investigated. In this analysis, we show that with increase of Δ (optical parameter) for MI structure the slope of dispersion curve is decreased and the case is reversed for MII structure. Also, with rising of Q (geometric parameter) for MI structure the slope of dispersion curve is decreased and the situation is reversed for MII structure. Finally, we show that with boosting of R₂ for MII structure the slope of dispersion is increased. As a final result, our simulations show that small values for optical parameters are better in MII structure for multi-channel optical communications. In MI structure to obtain small dispersion slope, Q can be increased that is easy for fabrication in practice. Finally, Q and R₂ are suitable parameters for control of dispersion in the proposed structures.     

Dark soliton interaction in optical time division multiplexed system with randomly varying birefringence and random dispersion map

Correlated perturbations caused by both randomly varying birefringence and random dispersion map are considered in optical time division multiplexed dispersion-managed dark soliton system, and their effects on soliton interaction are investigated numerically. These perturbations enhance soliton interaction, and their effects relate to the strength of perturbation, separation, and pulse width. The correlation plays an important role and reinforces these effects. Moreover, there is a stochastic limit between two perturbations in the system, where the effect is the largest and the corresponding interaction distance is the shortest.     

Third- and fourth-order active dispersion compensation with a phase modulator in a terabit-per-second optical time-division multiplexed transmission

Broadening of the pulse waveforms by the higher-order dispersion of a transmission line is a critical limiting factor in achieving terabit-per-second optical time-division multiplexed (OTDM) transmission with femtosecond pulses. We show that the third- and fourth-order dispersion of a transmission line can be simultaneously compensated for by use of a phase modulator. In this method, sinusoidal phase modulation applied to the linearly chirped pulse before transmission compensates for the phase shift caused by the third- and fourth-order dispersion of the transmission line. The pulse broadening of a 380-fs pulse after a 70-km transmission in a 1.28-Tbit/s OTDM experiment was as small as 20 fs.     

Modulational instability in optical fibers with arbitrary higher-order dispersion and delayed Raman response

We analyse modulational instability (MI) of electromagnetic waves in a large variety of optical fibers having different refractive-index profiles. For the normal-, anomalous-, and zero-dispersion regimes of the wave propagation, we show that whenever the second-order dispersion competes with higher-order dispersion (HOD), propagation of plane waves leads to a rich variety of dynamical behaviors. Most of the richness comes from the existence of critical behaviors, which include situations in which the HOD suppresses MI in the anomalous dispersion regime, and other situations in which the HOD acts in the opposite way by inducing non-conventional MI processes in the normal- and anomalous-dispersion regimes. We show that non-conventional MI sidebands are more prone to Raman-induced degradations than ordinary MI sidebands can be.     

Modal interferometer for in situ measurements of induced core index change in optical fibers

A simple interferometer based on modal interference is described. Without compromising interferometer stability it is possible to measure index changes of less than 1 x 10(-6).     

A simple but accurate method for prediction of splice loss in single-mode dispersion shifted trapezoidal as well as dispersion flattened graded and step W fibers

We present simple and accurate analytical expressions for transmission coefficient at the splice for both angular offset and transverse offset in case of single-mode dispersion shifted trapezoidal as well as dispersion flattened graded and step W fibers. Here, we employ the recently developed simple series expression for fundamental modal field for such fibers. The evaluation of the concerned parameters based on our formalism requires very little computations. We show that our estimations match excellently with the exact numerical results in case of the said fibers. Further, splices being highly tolerant with respect to longitudinal separation, we restrict our investigations to the cases of transverse and angular mismatches only. The present study should find application in all optical technology involving said kinds of fiber.     

Simultaneous measurement of anomalous group-velocity dispersion and nonlinear coefficient in optical fibers using soliton-effect compression

We present a novel and simple method to measure both the value of the second-order dispersion coefficient and the nonlinear coefficient in optical fibers. This method is based on the higher-order soliton-effect pulse compression phenomenon and is valid for dispersion values greater than 0.5 ps/km/nm. A non-zero dispersion-shifted fiber, a standard single-mode fiber and a highly-dispersive highly-nonlinear fiber have been measured using this method.