Autocorrelation function of the single PC polarization-mode dispersion emulator

The discrete structure of multisection polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) emulators is known to artificially correlate the PMD affecting different channels in a wavelength-division multiplexing system, thus limiting their usefulness in accurately emulating broad-band PMD. We report on the correlation properties of a novel single polarization controller (PC) PMD emulator, which offers scalability with the number of emulator sections through component reuse. We report a background level of the PMD frequency autocorrelation function of 0.66%, for a 50-section emulator, the lowest experimentally demonstrated for a PMD emulator, which makes the single PC PMD emulator an instrument of choice for research and development of broad-band PMD mitigation strategies.