Optical Fiber Power Meter Calibrations at NIST

The optical fiber power meter (OFPM) is perhaps the most common type of test equipment used to support the development and implementation of optical fiber systems. To address the inherent metrology requirements, NIST has developed and implemented measurement services to help characterize these instruments [1]. These measurement services consist primarily of absolute laser power calibrations using either collimated beam or optical fiber/connector configurations. In addition, NIST provides measurements of uniformity, nonlinearity, spectral responsivity (based both on tunable lasers and broadband incoherent light sources) for OFPMs. Calibrations are available at the three principal wavelength regions used by the optical fiber telecommunications industry, 850, 1300, and 1550 nm and, consequently, our measurement services are based primarily on these wavelengths. Other optical power meter users (e.g., compact-disc player manufacturers, users of erbium-doped fiber amplifiers) are additionally interested in wavelengths of 670, 780, and 980 nm. We have also incorporated these wavelengths into our absolute laser power calibration program.