Simple chromatic dispersion measurement method using a spectral interferometer

We present a novel chromatic dispersion measurement method using a spectral domain interferometer for single mode optical fiber over a wide spectral range (200 nm). This technique is based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer using a white light source and spectrometer. A phase was directly retrieved from a measured spectral interferogram to obtain relative group velocity, chromatic dispersion and dispersion slope. The measured results with the proposed method were compared with those obtained using a conventional measurement method. Those results have good agreement with each other. Our proposed method can simply, accurately, and quickly (< 500 ms) measure chromatic information for a short length of optical fiber as well as optical devices.