Measurement of Depolarization and Scaling Associated with Second-Order Polarization Mode Dispersion in Optical Fibers

The Muller Matrix Method enables the low-noise, high-resolution measurement of second-order polarization-mode-dispersion (PMD) depolarization and related parameters required for systems modeling. We report lucid experimental observations of second-order PMD statistical dependencies and scaling for fibers with mean differential group delay (DGD) ranging from 1.3 ps to 17.0 ps. Measurements of ten different fibers confirm that the depolarization scales with the mean DGD while the polarization-dependent chromatic dispersion scales with the square of the mean DGD.