Development of a cost-effective fiber optic delay line

Abstract

A fiber optic delay line was designed and developed to be used in a microwave signal processing system. The device was based on a 10km 9/125 microns single mode fiber delay line. A single mode 1550nm/1mW laser diode was used as a transmitter modulated up to 500MHz. A PIN photodiode with incorporated transimpedance amplifier was used to convert the optical signal back to the electrical. The paper presents full technical details and optical performance characteristics of a low cost easy to use fiber optic delay line.