Theory of backward Rayleigh scattering in polarization-maintaining single-mode fibers and its application to polarization optical time domain reflectometry

Backward Rayleigh scattering in polarization-maintaining single-mode optical fibers has been theoretically analyzed. A simple formula for the backscattered power, which comes back again at an input portion of the fiber, is derived with a recapture factor S
xy
. By applying the analysis to a polarization optical time domain reflectometry (POTDR), details of the POTDR have been made clear. The important results are that the fluctuation component in the POTDR is attributable to a polarization beat length of the fiber, and that the quantity of the polarization component occupied in the total back-scattered power is determined by the optical pulse width.