Open AccessHigh-resolution differential mode delay measurement for a multimode optical fiber using a modified optical frequency domain reflectometer
Author(s) -
Tae-Jung Ahn,
D.Y. Kim
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/opex.13.008256
Subject(s) - optics , interferometry , multi mode optical fiber , reflectometry , michelson interferometer , optical time domain reflectometer , optical fiber , materials science , single mode optical fiber , mach–zehnder interferometer , time domain , graded index fiber , fiber optic sensor , physics , computer science , computer vision
A novel differential mode delay (DMD) measurement technique for a multimode optical fiber based on optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) has been proposed. We have obtained a high-resolution DMD value of 0.054 ps/m for a commercial multimode optical fiber with length of 50 m by using a modified OFDR in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure with a tunable external cavity laser and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer instead of Michelson interferometer. We have also compared the OFDR measurement results with those obtained using a traditional time-domain measurement method. DMD resolution with our proposed OFDR technique is more than an order of magnitude better than a result obtainable with a conventional time-domain method.