Origin and System Effects of Polarization Mode Dispersion in Chirped Bragg Gratings

Polarization mode dispersion of chirped Bragg gratings is analyzed in terms of key birefringence phenomena and impact on telecommunication systems performance. The influence on polarization mode dispersion (PMD) of fiber birefringence, grating chromatic dispersion, and ripples of the group delay curve is pointed out. Polarization mode dispersion influence on systems performance is investigated by numerical simulations and transmission experiments at 10 Gbit/s. The deterministic nature of Bragg gratings PMD determines a moderate, upper-limited system penalty for a transmission line employing a single compensating device. However, in the case of broadband components, a non-negligible PMD penalty may be observed due to the difficulty of controlling accurately the group delay linearity.