Measurement of beat length in short low-birefringence fibers using the fiber optical loop mirror

摘要

In this paper we provide a detailed analysis and investigation of a novel experimental method to measure the birefringence in short low-birefringence fibers. This method is based on the fiber's twist in a fiber optical loop mirror. It allows simple birefringence measurement in fibers with beat length within the range of 0.4-100 m. The shortest fiber we were able to measure was 0.034 of beat length. Statistical error of measurements was less than 3%. To demonstrate the measurement technique we present experimental results for three optical fibers whose beat lengths were in the range from 1 to 19 m. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. [References: 14]