Optical frequency domain polarimetry based on a self-referenced unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer

Optical frequency domain polarimetry (OFDP) is an emerg-ing distributed polarization crosstalk rapid measurement method with an ultrawide dynamic range. However, interfer-ometric phase noise induced by the laser source and ambient noise results in a trade-off between measurement length and dynamic range. In this Letter, we solve this problem with a self-referenced unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interfer-ometer. The features of long distance (9.8 km), ultrawide dynamic range (107.8 dB), short measurement time (2 sec), and signal-to-noise ratio improvement against ambient noise are experimentally demonstrated. The method makes it pos-sible to evaluate a long polarization-maintaining fiber in an environment whose state changes rapidly. & COPY; 2023 Optica Publishing Group

Automated summary

Optical frequency domain polarimetry (OFDP) is an emerging method for rapidly measuring distributed polarization crosstalk with a wide dynamic range. This Letter presents a solution to the trade-off between measurement length and dynamic range using a self-referenced unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Experimental results demonstrate the method's ability to evaluate long polarization-maintaining fiber in rapidly changing environments, with a long distance capability (9.8 km), ultrawide dynamic range (107.8 dB), short measurement time (2 sec), and improved signal-to-noise ratio against ambient noise.