Measurement of the elliptical birefringence of single-mode optical fibers

The polarization properties of single-mode optical fibers are theoretically modeled with use of the Jones formalism. The fiber is described as an elli ptical birefringent plate. The properties predicted by this model are discu ssed and lead to the development of a simple experimental method to extract the parameters that describe areal fiber. A magneto-optic method that meas ures the beat length of the fiber is also presented and gives a more comple te description of the fiber. The validity of the model is then clearly esta blished. Finally, the wavelength dependence of the parameters characteristi c of the fiber is experimentally investigated. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.