Noninterferometric measurement schemes for determination of single mode optical fiber nonlinear coefficient: a comparative study

In this paper, various noninterferometric measurement schemes for determination of single-mode optical fiber nonlinear coefficient are reviewed, studied and discussed. All of proposed measurement techniques use one of the Kerr-related phenomena which are self-phase modulation, modulation instability, cross-phase modulation or four-wave mixing. The brief description of each measurement method is given. This paper focuses on the comparison of different noninterferometric measurement schemes in terms of their construction set-up simplicity, equipment cost, measurement time and field usage. Versatility of testing the various types and lengths of fibers is also an important issue.