Crosstalk due to optical fiber nonlinearities in WDM CATV lightwave systems

Crosstalk in a two-wavelength 1550-nm standard fiber system at subcarrier frequencies 50-800 MHz is investigated. The dependence of the crosstalk on subcarrier frequency, wavelength spacing, and optical power is measured and analyzed. The observed crosstalk is attributed to three primary mechanisms: stimulated Raman scattering, cross-phase modulation, and the optical Kerr effect combined with polarization-dependent loss. At wavelength spacing greater than 9 nm, stimulated Raman scattering dominates. At wavelength spacing less than 5 nm, the primary contributor can be the optical Kerr effect with polarization dependent loss, except at higher modulation frequencies where cross-phase modulation also is significant. At even modest (by CATV standards) optical power, the crosstalk is as high as -40 to -45 dB.