June 16, 2005 Boulder, CO -- dBm Optics, a provider of high-speed test equipment for R&D and testing optical components and subsystems, has introduced what it calls an innovative technique for fully characterizing the polarization dependency of polarization-sensitive optical devices. The company says the technique allows very rapid extraction of the spectra corresponding to the TE- and TM-incident Stokes vectors from a fast matrix PDL measurement.
"This new technology eliminates the need for any manual calibrations while a user is measuring the TE and TM spectra of their devices. Using [our] Component Spectrum Analyzer (CSA), our method takes advantage of the Mueller Matrix calculations to extract the TE and TM information on the fly," explains Michael Minneman, president of dBm Optics. "Full wavelength dependence of the TE state and the TM state are displayed in conjunction with the insertion loss and PDL profiles. Polarization dependence of the bandwidth and center wavelength are also displayed automatically. This represents a true breakthrough in measurement technology."
The company says the technique is especially valuable when testing planar optical devices, such as AWG multiplexers, ROADMs, wavelength switches, planar splitters, and WDMs.
"One of the unique applications of this licensed technology is the ability to extract orthogonal spectra for future improvements of device performance by design team," adds Michael Crawford, applications manager at dBm Optics. "In addition, fabrication teams and assembly teams can monitor the impact of different processes on the TE- and TM-incident spectra throughout the production line. Component suppliers can dramatically reduce testing costs and turnaround time using this technology."
According to the company, the technology can be applied to either 4-state or the higher-accuracy 6-state matrix PDL measurement that is fully supported in the company's Model 2004 CSA, Model 4650 Swept Spectrometer, or Model 4600 PDL Meter. The company says the technique is invaluable for both R&D and volume testing, and that the technology is already being used for both die and fully-packaged fiber attached devices.
