Effects of Temperature on Polarization Mode Dispersion of G.652 Optical Fibers

In current high bit rate long haul transmission systems, PMD is the most important factor causing degradation in system performance. Therefore PMD compensation is an important subject for reliable high bit rate transmission systems. PMD compensation techniques require information about effects of environmental conditions on PMD. In this paper, effects of temperature on PMD performance of G.652 standard communications fiber manufactured according to TRFO-9b Optical Fiber Cable Specification of Turkish Telecom are reported. Results show that in the adiabatic regime, the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean value, which is experimentally obtained as 0.39, is in good agreement with the theoretical value obtained as 0.42 from Maxwellian distribution while in the isothermal regime the experimental ratio obtained as 0.14 is far from the theoretical ratio. Furthermore, in the adiabatic regime mean PMD slightly varies with the wavelength while in the isothermal regime variation of PMD with the wavelength is significant and shows a strong oscillation. In the isothermal regime, a temperature sensitivity of ± %19 /°C is also obtained. The results can be used in developing a PMD compensation method for communication systems based on the optical fiber type used in this research.