Measuring Power - Agilent Technologies HP E5574A User Manual

If you activate the built-in
polarization controller,
you can also measure the
power at different states of
polarization. This
application is explained in
section 6.2 "Using the
OLA as a Polarization
Controller" on page 84.
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Measuring Power

This chapter provides information on how to measure optical
power, usually the power radiated by active optical devices. It
covers the application "Powermeter".
Using one optical head you can measure:
• The average power of a light source in dBm or W.
• The ratio of the power presently received to a power measured
previously.
• The variation (fluctuation) of the power measured within a
specified number of samples.
Using two optical heads you can measure:
• The average power and the power fluctuation of two light
sources simultaneously.
• The ratio of the two powers presently received to a power
measured previously.
• The ratio of one power to the other.
ATTEN TI O N Before you measure optical power, it is necessary
to zero the optical head(s). If you have not yet zeroed the head(s),
refer to page 31 in section 1.6 "Getting Started".
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