Zero-dispersion wavelength determination in optical fibers using cross-phase modulation

A simple method for determining the zero-dispersion wavelength in optical fibers is proposed. It is based on cross-phase modulation between a tunable continuous-wave signal and copropagating intense pump pulses in an optical fiber. By positioning the pump wavelength in the normal group-velocity dispersion (GVD) regime, the polarity of the generated pulses at the signal wavelength reverses when the signal wavelength is tuned through the zero-dispersion point from the GVD side. The method was experimentally demonstrated for a /spl sim/1 km dispersion-shifted fiber and a measurement accuracy of /spl sim/0.4 nm was obtained. Simulation results also show good agreement with experimental ones.