NIST measurement is adapted to meet telecommunications industry needs - News Briefs - National Institute of Standards and Technology

Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Jan, 2002

To meet the emerging metrology needs of the telecommunications industry, NIST scientists have significantly improved NISTs measurement capabilities for chromatic dispersion. Dispersion causes data pulses in optical fiber systems to broaden, resulting in transmission errors. Previously, NIST produced Standard Reference Material 2524, which was an artifact with a certified zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW). However, the emergence of wavelength-division multiplexing now requires that chromatic dispersion itself be measured over the [approximately equal to]80 nm optical bandwidth occupied by multiple wavelength channels. The NIST system has been expanded to make certified measurements of chromatic dispersion with total uncertainties as low as 0.2 %. This improved system also compensates for temperature drift and features a more sophisticated scheme for background removal, cutting the ZDW measurement uncertainty nearly in half. The system can measure a wide variety of the optical fibers found in todays sophisticate d networks.

CONTACT: Tasshi Dennis, (303) 497-3507; tasshi@boulder.nist.gov.