GOALI: Wavelength-Parallel Compensation and Sensing of Polarization-Mode Dispersion

高速光纤在实现高带宽通信方面发挥着关键作用。 鉴于令人印象深刻的商业进步，新的影响已成为光波系统带宽持续增长的关键限制因素。 其中一种被视为未来高速系统的关键障碍的损害是称为偏振模色散（PMD）的效应。 PMD是由于沿着光纤长度的小的随机变化而产生的，这导致偏振态的扰乱和时域中的脉冲扩展。 后一种效应会导致数字通信系统中的错误。这个问题在许多光纤表现出强PMD的嵌入式光纤基底中尤其严重。 该提案描述了一个大学-工业合作项目，旨在展示一种新颖且有利的PMD补偿方法。 这个概念是利用和扩展在超快光学领域开发的技术，用于宽带光信号的波长并行传感和补偿。这改进了当前的方法，该方法仅允许对单个波长补偿所谓的一阶PMD，并且不适用于由PMD引起的失真在光带宽上显著变化的宽带光信号的情况。 这项研究有可能通过支持高速通信基础设施的进步而产生广泛的社会影响，高速通信基础设施已成为我们经济的普遍现象。 两个工业组织作为共同PI参与这项提案，应能促进研究成果迅速转化为实践。 这个研究项目应该提供广泛的学生培训在尖端技术领域的绝佳机会，同时提供团队合作的机会，包括工业研究访问，这将丰富学生的教育经验。

High-speed fiber optics plays a key role enabling high bandwidth communications. In light of impressive commercial advances, new effects have become key limiting factors for continued growth in the bandwidth of lightwave systems. One such impairment, viewed as a key roadblock for future high-speed systems, is an effect called polarization-mode dispersion (PMD). PMD arises due to small random variations along the lengths of optical fibers, which lead to scrambling of polarization states and pulse spreading in the time domain. The latter effect can cause errors in digital communication systems. This problem is especially acute in the embedded fiber base where many fibers exhibit strong PMD. This proposal describes a university-industry collaborative project which aims to demonstrate a novel and advantageous method for compensation of PMD. The concept is to exploit and extend technology developed in the field of ultrafast optics for wavelength-parallel sensing and compensation of wide-band optical signals. This improves on current approaches that only allow compensation of so-called first order PMD for a single wavelength and which do not apply to situations with wide-band optical signals where the distortion caused by PMD varies substantially across the optical bandwidth. This research has the potential for broad societal impact by supporting advances in the high-speed communications infrastructure that has become pervasive to our economy. The participation of two industrial organizations as co-PIs in this proposal should catalyze rapid transfer of research results to practice. This research project should furnish excellent opportunities for broad student training in areas of cutting-edge technology, while providing teaming opportunities, including industrial research visits, that will enrich the students' educational experience.