Phase response of polarization-maintaining optical fiber to temperature changes.

This paper deals with the phase shift development in the polarization-maintaining fiber owing to different temperatures of an applied defined body, where both polarization axes are excited. A variation of the Stokes parameters induced by the phase shift is expressed by the Jones matrix and a depiction on the observable Poincaré sphere. The temperature response of polarization-maintaining fiber and the effects of heat transfer on the phase shift variation of polarization-maintaining fiber were described theoretically. The time dependence of the phase shift development and its direction of rotation on the observable Poincaré sphere was measured and presented graphically. In addition, different response measures for higher and lower temperatures compared with the ambient temperature were experimentally evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]