Optical spectrum analyzer based on time-of-flight measurement and its implementation for PMD testing in optical fibers

摘要

An instrument for measuring chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion and spectral attenuation comprising a chromatic dispersion analyzer based on the photon-counting time-of-flight technique, a fixed analyzer (polarizer) for PMD measurement, an optical switch placed in front of the photon-counting detector to change the measurement mode between chromatic dispersion, PMD, and spectral attenuation testing, respectively. The object of the invention is to provide an optical spectrum analyzer which uses most of the components already present in a time-of-flight based chromatic dispersion analyzer for optical fibers. Integrating select components to this chromatic dispersion analyzer then highly increases the measurement capabilities of this instrument.