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Dispersion
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Author: the photonics expertDr. Rüdiger Paschotta (RP)
Definition: the dependence of the phase velocity in a medium on the optical frequency or the propagation mode
More specific terms:chromatic dispersion,group delay dispersion,intermodal dispersion,polarization mode dispersion,waveguide dispersion
Page views in 12 months: 1563
DOI:10.61835/9vk Cite the article:BibTexplain textHTML Link to this page! LinkedIn
There are various different types of dispersion, which all involve the dependence of thephase velocity or phase delay of light in some medium or device on some other parameter:
- Chromatic dispersion means that the phase velocity depends on theoptical frequency orwavelength. This can result from a frequency-dependentrefractive index, but also fromwaveguide dispersion.
- Intermodal dispersion results from different propagation characteristics ofhigher-order transverse modes inwaveguides, such asmultimode fibers. This effect can severely limit the possible data rate of a system foroptical fiber communications based onmultimode fibers.
- Polarization mode dispersion results from polarization-dependent propagation characteristics. It can be relevant in high data ratefiber-optic links based onsingle-mode fibers.
- As a result of chromatic dispersion,refraction angles at optical surfaces can be frequency-dependent, leading toangular dispersion. This is exploited e.g. inspectrometers withprism pairs or pairs ofdiffraction gratings. Also, one can obtain frequency-dependent path lengths, which can again act like chromatic dispersion. In that way, prism pairs and pairs of diffraction gratings can be used fordispersion compensation. Angular dispersion is also related to the phenomenon ofpulse front tilt.
More to Learn
| Chromatic dispersion |
| Intermodal dispersion |
| Polarization mode dispersion |
| Dispersion compensation |
| Waveguide dispersion |
| Pulse front tilt |
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