Chromatic dispersion measurement of optical components using lightwave synthesized frequency sweeper

We propose a chromatic dispersion (CD) measurement method that uses a lightwave synthesized frequency sweeper (LSFS), which generates a frequency swept output with very good linearity. With the LSFS, we can measure the CD of optical components in a very short time. Moreover, the employment of a lock-in detection with phase diversity technique makes it possible to fully utilize the good wavelength resolution and accuracy of the LSFS. We describe the principle of the method and analyze the noises that are intrinsic to it. We also report an experimental result that confirmed the method's feasibility.