Characterization of special fibers and fiber devices

Methods for characterizing birefringent fibers (both those with high circular or linear birefringence and those with negligible intrinsic birefringence) are presented, and their relative merits are discussed. Fibers with high nonlinear coefficients exhibit interesting optical phenomena, and methods are developed to determine second harmonic, Pockels and Kerr effects, parametric phenomena, and the Verdet constant of silica and higher-loss, nonsilica fibers. Fibers containing rare-earth ions are of interest both as active (laser and amplifiers) and passive systems. Techniques are developed to characterize these devices, and conventional methods are modified to quantify dopant parameters within the fiber. Techniques for the measurement of the diverse properties of all these different fibers are presented with results, and, where appropriate, the problems with their characterization are discussed