Simple all-fiber-optic component for first-order polarization mode dispersion compensation

A simple and reliable all-fiber-optic component for a first-order polarization mode dispersion compensator is presented and tested in a 10-Gbit/s transmission system. The proposed component incorporates tunable differential group delay (DGD) provided by several pieces of polarization maintaining (PM) fibers of different DGD that were spliced together with short lengths of single-mode fibers between them. The total DGD of the compensator is determined by the alignment of fast and slow axes of the PM fiber sections. Applying this component as a first-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) compensator, we demonstrate that a component with seven pieces of PM fiber segments could possibly compensate the first-order PMD up to 63.5 ps with 1-ps steps and a switching time of 300 ms. We also optimize the number of PM fiber sections in this component for a first-order PMD compensation in a 10-Gbit/s system based on experimental results. © 2002 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.