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High-resolution refractive index anisotropy measurement in optical fibers through phase retardation modulation
Benoit Sévigny1, François Busque, Nicolas Godbout
1Centre d'optique, photonique et laser, Fiber Optics Laboratory, Engineering Physics Department, Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada. benoit.sevigny@polymtl.ca
Abstract:
We present an improved, high-resolution method for the measurement of phase retardation induced by the material birefringence of optical fibers. Such a method can be used to retrieve information about the spatial distribution of refractive index anisotropy in the fiber by comparing the accumulated phase of a polarization component oriented along the fiber transmission axis and another located in the transverse plane. The method is based on the nonlinear regression of a phase modulated signal of known modulation amplitude altered by the sample. Experimental results obtained with our method for a standard telecommunications fiber (the Corning SMF-28) as well as photosensitive fibers (Fibercore PS1250 and PS1500) are presented with a noise-limited phase resolution below 10(-4) radians and a spatial resolution below 1 microm. An analysis of the limitation of such measurement methods is also presented including diffraction by the fibers.
