Product Portfolio
For measuring the properties of optical fibers, AMS Technologies carries a broad range of equipment and also offers measurement services for clients. Within our portfolio, you find solutions for measuring refractive index, fiber strength (tensile test), various polarization properties like state and degree of polarization, polarization crosstalk, polarization extinction ratio, polarization dependent loss, but also the fiber’s insertion loss.
Measurement of Refractive Index
Our multi-wavelength interferometric optical fiber analyzer can measure the refractive index profile of an optical fiber without the need for a cleave at wavelengths from 375 nm to 2000 nm. By scanning the fiber from the side, this unit allows for scanning and measuring the optical refractive index profile (RIP) along the fiber’s length with sub-micron spatial resolution. Based on this analyzer, AMS Technologies also offers refractive index measurement services for product development, incoming inspection and forensic analysis on optical fibers. Contact our experts to discuss your requirements!
Stress (Tensile) Test
For verifying an optical fiber’s strength, our automated tensile tester is the right tool. Suitable for fibers with cladding diameters ranging from 80 µm to 400 μm, the instrument’s fiber clamps accommodate coatings up to 1000 μm in diameter. Beyond a simple “pass” result, this tester provides the maximum tension (in Newtons (N) or kpsi) applied to the fiber during the tension test and also supports destructive testing by pulling and displaying the maximum achieved tension.
Measurement of Degree and State of Polarization, Polarization Extinction Ratio, Polarization Dependent Loss and Insertion Loss
The fiber properties measurement product line is completed by products to measures several properties connected with the polarization of light within the fiber.
Our FPGA-powered polarimeter uses four channels to simultaneously obtain the four Stokes parameters and measure the instantaneous state of polarization (SOP) and degree of polarization (DOP) of an input light beam. A dedicated degree of polarization meter measures and displays a light source’s DOP in real time. The instrument’s maximum & minimum search technique is superior to polarimeter-based methods that are inaccurate at low values of DOP as well as scrambler-based methods which are less accurate at high values of DOP.
When used with a broadband source, our single- or dual-channel polarization extinction ratio (PER) meter directly measures a fiber’s PER in the S, C and L bands without calibration. The dual channel version is specifically designed to simultaneously measure the PER and power ratio of a device with two polarization maintaining (PM) outputs. Using a patented maximum and minimum search method compliant with TIA/EIA-455-198, our PDL/IL multimeter simultaneously measures the polarization dependent loss (PDL), insertion loss (IL) and optical power of devices in just 30 ms.
You are looking for a system that allows measuring and analyzing multiple polarization-related properties like PMD, PDL and others with one single device? Our polarization measurement system is specially designed for fiber optic applications and can effortlessly accomplish multiple functions, including polarization state generation (PSG), polarization state analysis (PSA), polarization extinction ratio (PER) measurement, polarization dependent loss (PDL) measurement, and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) measurement, as well as birefringence measurement in spun fiber.
Related Products
Complementing our fiber properties measurement devices, we offer a broad portfolio of further devices for inspection and measurement of optical connectors and optical fibers like an extensive range of fiber optic microscopes for every application and budget, tools and systems for measuring passive optics and connectors, as well as interferometers.
Equipment like light sources, optical power meters or OTDRs allow tests of optical fibers or patch cables in the laboratory as well as in the field.
AMS Technologies’ further optical test and measurement offerings include beam profilers, integrating spheres, reflectance targets, spectrometers, spectrographs and spectroscopy cameras, as well as fiber sensing equipment.
Tools for fiber optics processing, dispensing and curing of optical adhesives and cleaning of optical connector surfaces round off the AMS Technologies range of solutions around optical test, tools and measurement.
Definition
The index of refraction (IOR) is a property of any material. For optically transmitting materials, such as for fibers and waveguides, it is reflected in the reduced speed of light when travelling through any media other than vacuum. Fibers and waveguides use a distribution of the IOR within their cross section to guide and reflect light, and knowledge of this distribution allows many other critical performance parameters to be calculated, such as mode fields, group and phase propagation constants and fiber dispersion
In any ordinary optical fiber, tiny imperfections cause random changes to the polarity of light propagating through the fiber. For some applications, where maintaining the light’s polarization over the length of the fiber is key, a polarization maintaining fiber (PMF or PM fiber) is used. Among the polarization-related properties of optical fibers is the degree of polarization (DOP), describing the polarized component of a light wave. More precisely: The degree of polarization is calculated from the proportion of the radiant power that is carried by the polarized component of a light wave. While a non-polarized wave has a DOP of 0%, the DOP of a perfectly polarized wave is 100%. Consequently, the degree of polarization of partially polarized light waves lies somewhere between 0% and 100%.
The state of polarization (SOP) characterizes the current orientation of the plane of polarization of the light in the fiber. The polarization extinction ratio (PER) is the ratio of the optical powers of mutually perpendicular polarization planes (X and Y polarization, fast and slow axis). In fiber-based data transmission, the PER is used, among other things, as a measure to characterize the degree of polarization in a PM fiber, where X and Y polarization are each encoded with different signals. This measurement is important for any type of qualification of polarization maintaining components.
Ideally, the optical powers or optical information should remain within the individual polarization planes. In reality, however, the fibers always exhibit a certain degree of polarization crosstalk, which in principle can be caused by three things: Fiber misalignment at fiber interfaces, e.g. in fiber optic connectors or optical splices, impurities in optical PM fibers such as variations in geometry or refractive index or internal fiber stress, and finally external mechanical stress applied to sections of the fiber, i.e. bending, crushing, pressure or fiber crossings.
Polarization dependent loss (PDL) is a type of signal amplitude loss that changes with the SOP of the light wave passing through a fiber. The measure of PDL is the difference between the maximum and minimum attenuation in dB, which takes into account all possible states of polarization in the system.
Alternative Terms: Refractive Index Measurement; Refractive Index Measurement Service; Tensile Fiber Test; Stress Test; Polarimeter; SOP Meter; DOP Meter; PER Meter; Polarization Crosstalk Analyzer; PDL Meter; PMD Meter; Polarization Measurement System
