Single-End Spectral Resolved Measurement of Polarization Mode Dispersion in Optical Fibers

An improved single-end backreflection technique is proposed to perform the spectral resolved measurement of polarization mode dispersion (PMD) in optical fibers. This technique is based on the PMD dynamical equation, which is realized by measuring the reflected polarization state evolution in both frequency and time domains. An experimental setup, employing continuous-wave and far-end Fresnel reflection, is constructed. The agreement between the results of single-end and forward measurements is very good.