Novel figure of merit to compare fibers in coherent detection systems with uncompensated links.

We introduce an improved fiber figure of merit (FoM) in order to compare different fiber types used in uncompensated links for transmission of coherently-received modulation formats. The role of fiber dispersion in enhancing system performance is shown and verified by simulations and experiments, confirming the need for the inclusion of dispersion parameter in a FoM definition allowing to compare fiber types with relevant different dispersion parameters. Applicability of the proposed FoM has been demonstrated for channel spacing from the Nyquist limit up to 5/3 the symbol rate. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America