Polarization Mode Dispersion - Overview

Overview

In an ideal optical fiber, the core has a perfectly circular cross-section. In this case, the fundamental mode has two orthogonal polarizations (orientations of the electric field) that travel at the same speed. The signal that is transmitted over the fiber is randomly polarized, i.e. a random superposition of these two polarizations, but that would not matter in an ideal fiber because the two polarizations would propagate identically (are degenerate).

In a realistic fiber, however, there are random imperfections that break the circular symmetry, causing the two polarizations to propagate with different speeds. In this case, the two polarization components of a signal will slowly separate, e.g. causing pulses to spread and overlap. Because the imperfections are random, the pulse spreading effects correspond to a random walk, and thus have a mean polarization-dependent time-differential Δτ (also called the differential group delay, or DGD) proportional to the square root of propagation distance L:

D_PMD is the PMD parameter of the fiber, typically measured in ps/√km, a measure of the strength and frequency of the imperfections.

The symmetry-breaking random imperfections fall into several categories. First, there is geometric asymmetry, e.g. slightly elliptical cores. Second, there are stress-induced material birefringences, in which the refractive index itself depends on the polarization. Both of these effects can stem from either imperfection in manufacturing (which is never perfect or stress-free) or from thermal and mechanical stresses imposed on the fiber in the field — moreover, the latter stresses generally vary over time.