Low-coherence spectral interferometry with a Michelson interferometer applied to dispersion measurement of a two-mode optical fiber

Abstract

Intermodal dispersion in a two-mode optical fiber can be measured in the spectral domain when the spectral interference between modes at the output of the optical fiber shows up as a periodic modulation of the source spectrum that can be processed. However, this technique cannot be used to measure intermodal dispersion in the two- mode optical fiber when the period of modulation is too small to be resolved by a spectrometer. Consequently, we proposed a new measuring technique utilizing a tandem configuration of a dispersive Michelson interferometer and the two-mode optical fiber in which the spectral interference can be resolved even if a low-resolution spectrometer is used. In the tandem configuration of the Michelson interferometer and the two-mode optical fiber, the optical path difference (OPD) in the Michelson interferometer is adjusted close to the group OPD between modes of the optical fiber so that the low-frequency spectral modulation that can be processed is produced. Using the Fourier transform method in processing the measured spectral modulations and subtracting the effect of the dispersive Michelson interferometer, the feasibility of this technique has successfully been demonstrated in obtaining the intermodal dispersion in the two-model optical fiber.