Chromatic dispersion measurements using a virtually referenced interferometer

We present a technique for measuring the chromatic dispersion of short-length (<1 m) optical devices using unbalanced spectral interferometry and a virtual reference path. The technique combines the speed and ease of measurement of unbalanced spectral interferometry with the accuracy of balanced spectral interferometry. We demonstrate measurement accuracy for group delay and the dispersion-length product of ~10(-3) ps/m (<0.0001% relative error) and ~10(-5) ps/m (<0.5% relative error), respectively. Measurement precision is demonstrated to be ~10(-5) ps/m (<0.15% relative deviation). We validate the technique via measurement of well-known dispersion standards.