Depolarizer for fiber optic applications and method using same

摘要

A technique for causing the distribution of the state of polarization of an optical signal carried in a single-mode optical fiber to be substantially diversified over a time interval. When such a depolarized optical signal is fed into an optical detector, the polarization dependent loss (PDL) of the optical signal attributable to the detector is thereby normalized. By normalizing the PDL attributable to the detector, it is then possible to more accurately measure any PDL of the optical signal attributable to the optical signal passing through an optical device under test.