High-speed Optical Fiber Communication Systems, Polarization Mode Dispersion Compensation Experiments

In future years, polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) is one of main obstacles in high bit rate, large capacity and long-haul optical fiber communication systems. In this dissertation, the analysis and novel design of polarization-mode dispersion compensator on a silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) with balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) configurations were presented, in order to compensate polarization-mode dispersion in optical fiber communication systems. This dissertation addresses several aspects pertaining to polarization in singlemode fibers (SMFs) and optical waveguide devices and polarization compensation.First, fundamental theories for polarization-mode dispersion as well as relative compensation technologies were studied, including definition, cause of formation, representation, calculation theory and so on. Also a deeper-look about methods for Poincare Sphere, Stockes vectors, Miiller matrices, second-order PMD (SOPMD), polarization dependent loss (PDL), principal state of polarization (PSP) and cascaded vectors was introduced. The research about PMD compensation was based on sufficient theories and methods as mentioned above.Second, kinds of present polarization-mode dispersion compensators (PMDC) were classified as rotation, polarization controller (PC) and PLC types. Analytic results, from all sorts of PMDC models were obtained using Monte Carlo simulations. They showed that all models could realize the compensation function of polarization-mode dispersion in theory.Third, an original design and comprehensive analysis of PMDC that would be growing at a phenomenal pace in the future was carried out. It can be called polarization-mode dispersion compensator on a silica-based planar lightwave circuit (PLC) with all balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) configurations. The PLC-type PMDC was its abbreviation. And key feature of PMDC was analyzed and represented in detail by simulative calculation and beam propagation method (BPM).Finally, a systematic simulation of PC-type compensator was worked out. The simulation results indicated that PC-type PMDC could be competent for PMDcompensation in 40Gbit/s communication systems, were then used to design and make a facilitated PMDC. Those PMDC were equipped in the four groups of real concatenated fibers and tested for their compensation capability and efficiency. 15% of total PMD were compensated successfully as our might except. So the theory and realization of PC-type PMDC were proved.