Tunable compensation of channel degrading effects using nonlinearly chirped passive fiber Bragg gratings

Several channel-degrading effects are present in nonstatic and dynamically reconfigurable wavelength-division-multiplexed systems and networks due to various types of dispersion in the optical transmission fiber. These effects must be addressed by tunable methods so that data signals do not fade with time. The relevant effects for which we demonstrate tunable compensation include: chromatic dispersion accumulated in a single channel and in multiple channels, polarization mode dispersion, and periodic RF power fading. We utilize a nonlinearly chirped fiber Bragg grating that provides a dispersive function that can be varied continuously by tuning a single mechanical stretching element.