Cross-phase modulation distortion measurements in multispan WDM systems

We present an experimental study of cross phase modulation crosstalk in wavelength-division-multiplexed systems. Measurements were performed with single and multiple spans of conventional single-mode and nonzero dispersion-shifted fiber. We show that the magnitude of cross phase modulation induced crosstalk is linearly proportional to the powers of the interfering channels and inversely proportional to their wavelength separation. This is consistent with previously obtained theoretical results.