instruments is essential in the design of experimental setups and to achieve the
desired measurement speed and accuracy. From methodology point of view, a
familiarity with various basic measurement system configurations and topolo-
gies is necessary, which helps in determining how to make the most efficient
use of the available instrumentations, how to extract useful signals, and how
to interpret and process the results.
The focus of this book is the measurement techniques related to fiber-optic
systems, subsystems and devices. Since both optical systems and optical instru-
ments are built upon various optical components, basic optical devices are
discussed in chapter 1, which includes semiconductor lasers and LEDs, photo-
detectors, fundamental properties of optical fibers, optical amplifiers and optical
modulators. Familiarity with the characteristics of these individual building
blocks is essential for the understanding of optical measurement setups and
optical instrumentation. Chapter 2 introduces basic optical instrumentation,
such as optical spectrum analyzers, optical wavelength meters, Fabry-Perot,
Mach-zehnder and Michelson interferometers, optical polarimeters, high-speed
optical and RF oscilloscopes and network analyzers. Since coherent optical detec-
tion is a foundation for an entire new category of optical instrumentation, the fun-
damental principle of coherent detection is also discussed in this chapter, which
helps in the understanding of linear optical sampling and vectorial optical net-
work analyzer. In chapter 3, we discuss techniques of characterizing optical
devices such as semiconductor lasers, optical receivers, optical amplifiers and var-
ious passive optical devices. Optical and optoelectronic transfer functions, inten-
sity and phase noises and modulation characteristics are important parameters to
investigate. Chapter 4 discusses measurement of optical fibers, including attenua-
tion, chromatic dispersion, polarization mode dispersion and optical nonlinearity.
Finally, chapter 5 is dedicated to the discussion of measurement issues related to
optical communication systems.
Instead of describing performance and specification of specific instruments,
the major purpose of this book is to outline the fundamental principles behind
each individual measurement technique. Most of them described here can be
applied to various different application fields. A good understanding of funda-
mental principles behind these measurement techniques is a key to making the
best use of available instrumentation, to obtain the best possible results and
to develop new and innovative measurement techniques and instruments.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I would like to thank Mr. Tim Pitts of Academic Press. The idea of
developing this book began in early 2006 when Tim and I met at the Optical
Fiber Communications Conference (OFC) where he asked if I would consider
writing a book in fiber-optic measurements. I particularly like this topic because
xii Preface
