Dispersion compensation optical fiber modules for 40 Gbps WDM communication systems

Dispersion compensation was originally proposed to equalize pulse distortion. With the development of wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) techniques for large capacity optical communication systems, dispersion compensation technologies have been applied into the field. Fiber-based dispersion compensation is an attractive technology for upgrading WDM communication systems because of its dispersion characteristics and good compatibility with transmission optical fibers. Dispersion compensation fibers and the modules are promising technologies, so they have been receiving more and more attention in recent years. In this work, high performance dispersion compensation fiber modules (DCFMs) were developed and applied for the 40 Giga bit-rate systems. First, the design optimization of the dispersion optical fibers was carried out. In theory, the better the refractive index profile is, the larger the negative dispersion we could obtain and the higher the figure of merit (FOM) for the dispersion optical fiber is. Then we manufactured the fiber by using the plasma chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) process of independent intellectual property rights, and a high performance dispersion optical fiber was fabricated. Dispersion compensation fiber modules are made with the dispersion compensating fibers (DCFs) and pigtail fibers at both ends of the DCFs to connect with the transmission fibers. The DCFMs present the following superior characteristics: low insertion loss (IL), low polarization mode dispersion, good matched dispersion for transmission fibers, low nonlinearity, and good stability for environmental variation. The DCFMs have the functions of dispersion compensation and slope compensation in the wavelength range of 1525 to 1625 nm. The experiments showed that the dispersion compensation modules (DCMs) met the requirements of the GR-1221-CORE, GR-2854-CORE, and GR-63-CORE standards. The residual dispersions of the G. 652 transmission lines compensated for by the DCM in the C-band are less than 3. 0 ps/nm, and the dispersion slopes are also compensated for by 100%. With the DCFMs, the 8×80 km unidirectional transmission experiments in the 48-channel 40 Gbps WDM communication system was successfully made, and the results showed that the channel cost was smaller than 1. 20 dB, without any bit error. © 2010 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.