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September, 2001 EEEL Measurement is Adapted to Meet the Changing Needs of the Telecommunications Industry |
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To meet the emerging metrology needs of the telecommunications industry, Tasshi Dennis and Paul Williams of EEEL’s Optoelectronics Division have significantly improved NIST’s measurement capabilities for chromatic dispersion. Dispersion causes data pulses in optical fiber systems to broaden, resulting in transmission errors. Previously, NIST produced SRM 2524, which was an artifact with a certified zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW). However, the emergence of wavelength-division multiplexing now requires that chromatic dispersion itself be measured over the ~80 nm optical bandwidth occupied by multiple wavelength channels. The NIST system has been expanded to make certified measurements of chromatic dispersion with a total uncertainty of better than 0.2% (k=2). This improved system also compensates for temperature drift and features a more sophisticated scheme for background removal, cutting the ZDW measurement uncertainty nearly in half. The system can measure a wide variety of the optical fibers found in today’s sophisticated networks.
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