Independently tunable first- and second-order polarization-mode dispersion emulator

By solving the equation set for the first- and second-order polarization-mode dispersion (PMD) in retro-verse manner, we show that the independent control of first- and second-order PMD is possible, with only two control parameters. The analysis on the emulation algorithm as well as the operation range/resolution shows excellent agreement with the experimental demonstration operated with a sample emulator constructed of a fixed differential group delay (DGD), a polarization rotator, and a variable-DGD element.