Ultrawide spectral range group-velocity dispersion measurement utilizing supercontinuum in an optical fiber pumped by a 1.5 μm compact laser source

Group velocity dispersion (GVD) measurement is presented utilizing supercontinuum (SC) white pulses generated in an optical fiber by 15 /spl mu/m compact laser sources. This provides 1) ultrawide continuous spectral measurement range >600 nm from a single optical source without the use of interpolation formulae and 2) stable far-end measurements by the simultaneous multi-wavelength nature of the SC pulses. A novel method that is independent of the detector bandwidth is proposed which measures /spl lambda/-dependent phase shifts of one of the Fourier components of a short pulse train. Fiber GVD's of unusual dispersion characteristics were measured using SC pulses extended over the spectral range of 1150-1770 nm. It is shown that fiber lengths of up to 130 km can be measured with a group delay resolution of 0.01 ps/km.>