A spectral interferomeric technique to measure the chromatic dispersion, the zero-dispersion wavelength and the dispersion slope of a highly nonlinear suspended-core fiber is presented. This method utilizes an experimental configuration with a supercontinuum source in combination with a dispersion balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer. A low-resolution spectrometer is employed at the output of the setup to record spectral interferograms for the path lengths adjusted in the interferometer. The spectral interference fringes of the highest visibility are resolved in the vicinity of the stationary-phase point corresponding to the equalization wavelength. First, from a series of spectral interferograms the dependence of the equalization wavelength on the path length adjusted in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer is measured. Then, the dependence of the path length difference on the equalization wavelength is obtained, which enables to determine dispersion of the differential group index of the fiber. Next, the chromatic dispersion including the zero-dispersion wavelength is determined exploiting a least-square fitting. Finally, the dispersion slope is obtained.

Date Published: 3 May 2013
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 8775, Micro-structured and Specialty Optical Fibres II, 87750X (3 May 2013); doi: 10.1117/12.2016989

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8775:
Micro-structured and Specialty Optical Fibres II
Kyriacos Kalli; Jiri Kanka; Alexis Mendez, Editor(s)