Mitigation of Polarization-Induced Fading in Optical Vector Network Analyzer for the Characterization of km-scale Space-Division Multiplexing Fibers

TL;DR

This paper introduces an optimized optical vector network analyzer with automatic polarization control, effectively mitigating polarization-induced fading and measurement distortions in fiber characterization over 10 km multi-core fibers.

Contribution

It presents a novel polarization stabilization technique for optical network analyzers, improving measurement accuracy in long-distance fiber characterization.

Findings

Successfully removes polarization-induced fading

Achieves stable measurements over 10 km fibers

Enhances accuracy of fiber characterization

Abstract

We propose an optimized optical vector network analyzer with automatic polarization control to stabilize the reference arm polarization throughout the sweep range. We demonstrate this technique, successfully removing the polarization-induced fading and measurement distortions in insertion loss by characterizing a 10 km multi-core fiber.