Fast interrogation using sinusoidally current modulated laser diodes for fiber Fabry–Perot interferometric sensor consisting of fiber Bragg gratings

A fast interrogation method using a sinusoidal modulated laser diode for a fiber Fabry–Perot interferometric sensor consisting of Bragg gratings (FBG–FPI) is proposed.. The FBG–FPI has sharp transmittance peaks in the reflection band of the FBGs. Wavelength sweep produced by current modulation of a laser diode can be used to detect the peak position. This enables high-resolution strain or temperature measurement. To precisely control the current, the current modulation is realized using a laser diode controller (LDC) with external modulation function. In the modulation by a sawtooth wave, the possible speed of wavelength sweeping is limited to 100 kHz or less due to the bandwidth limitation of an LDC and thermal effect in a laser diodeUsing a sinusoidal wave as a modulation waveform enables wavelength sweeping at speeds exceeding 100 kHz. The modulation characteristics of the laser wavelength is evaluated experimentally and the operating wavelength is monitored using an asymmetric Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The resolution of 0.2 fm/\(\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}\) and measurement time of 1 \(\upmu\)s were experimentally demonstrated in the present sensor.     

Design and operation of a fiber optic sensor for liquid level detection

Design and construction of an optical fiber sensor for liquid level detection are reported. This sensor operates based on light intensity modulation, and such modulation results from alteration of total internal reflection into partial reflection at the interface. The modulated intensity has been measured by using a pair of fibers, one transmitting source light, another acting as receiving fiber, and a glass prism providing the total and partial reflections. During the level measurements, when a liquid in a vessel touches the 45° faces of the 45-90-45° prism, the total internal reflection is disturbed, and the reflected light is modulated. The performance of this sensor is tested with different source lights including a light emitting diode (LED), a diode laser, and a He–Ne laser. Extinction ratio has been measured for different liquids, and compared. This ratio for water using LED source is about 0.03, for diode laser is 0.006 and for He–Ne laser is 0.003. Although this device was tested as a liquid level sensor, but the distinct results obtained for samples with different index of refractions demonstrate that the reported sensor can also be used as a liquid refractometer.     

基于色散调谐宽带扫频光纤激光器及其在光纤光栅解调中的应用

报道了一种基于色散调谐技术的宽带扫频掺铒光纤激光器。通过在主动锁模光纤激光器腔内引入较大色散,利用锯齿波电信号调制电光调制器的调制频率,可以实现激光器扫频输出。应用扫频激光器可将光纤光栅反射中心波长的变化转变为时域上信号间隔变化,适用于光纤光栅传感解调。搭建了扫频光纤激光器,利用掺铒光纤作为增益介质,研究了扫频范围的影响因素。通过优化实验参数,实验得到的扫频带宽达到43 nm,接近增益带宽,扫频速度为50 Hz。利用搭建的扫频激光器进行了光纤光栅传感解调,灵敏度约为0.68 ms/nm,验证了解调原理。     

A fiber bragg grating acceleration sensor interrogated by a DFB laser diode

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) acceleration sensor interrogated by a DFB laser diode is demonstrated; the sensor is fabricated by packaging a FBG on to a cantilever; the interrogation scheme takes advantage of the intensity modulation of the narrow spectral bandwidth light of a distributed feedback laser diode, when the reflection spectrum curve of a FBG moves due to the strain which is applied on the sensor. The sensor’s response to the frequency and acceleration is measured by the experiment, and the factors which have an impact on the sensor’s sensitivity are also discussed.     

一种同时测量电流和温度的光纤光栅传感器

提出了一种基于光纤光栅法布里-珀罗干涉仪且可以同时测量交变电流和温度的传感器,并对其进行了理论分析和实验研究.该传感器采用单频激光入射,作为反射镜的一对光纤布喇格光栅自由放置,其间的法布里-珀罗腔粘贴在磁致伸缩材料上,通电导线周围的磁场通过磁致伸缩材料作用于光纤光栅法布里-珀罗腔,引起腔长周期性变化.同时,由于热膨胀和热光效应,环境温度的变化会引起光纤长度和折射率的改变,从而改变光纤光栅法布里-珀罗腔的反射光谱特性.通过检测输出光信号的频率和峰值可实现电流和温度的同时测量.对通电线圈的电流及环境温度进行测量的实验结果与理论分析相吻合.     

Dynamic strain monitoring by wavelength locking between two fiber Bragg gratings fiber sensing system

We demonstrated a fiber sensing system using the method of wavelength locking of two identical fibers Bragg gratings (FBG) to interrogate the wavelength shift by directly measuring the intensity of the reflection from the sensing Bragg grating. The light source of the fiber sensing system is an EDFA fiber ring laser pumped by a 980 nm laser diode and a narrow bandwidth fiber Bragg grating for the filter of the ring laser resonator. The wavelength shift is converted to the intensity deviation of the reflection from the sensing FBG under strain variation, and is able to achieve real-time sensing of the dynamic strain sensing in civil engineering. The characteristics and key factors to maintain stability of the dynamic strain sensing system are discussed.     

一种同时测量电流和温度的光纤光栅传感器

提出了一种基于光纤光栅法布里-珀罗干涉仪且可以同时测量交变电流和温度的传感器,并对其进行了理论分析和实验研究.该传感器采用单频激光入射,作为反射镜的一对光纤布喇格光栅自由放置,其间的法布里-珀罗腔粘贴在磁致伸缩材料上,通电导线周围的磁场通过磁致伸缩材料作用于光纤光栅法布里-珀罗腔,引起腔长周期性变化.同时,由于热膨胀和热光效应,环境温度的变化会引起光纤长度和折射率的改变,从而改变光纤光栅法布里-珀罗腔的反射光谱特性.通过检测输出光信号的频率和峰值可实现电流和温度的同时测量.对通电线圈的电流及环境温度进行测量的实验结果与理论分析相吻合.     

Multi-point abnormal-temperature warning sensor system with?different thresholds

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a time-division-multiplexing-based (TDM-based) multi-point abnormal-temperature warning sensor system with different thresholds. A multi-channel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) serving as the wavelength selector is employed in the fiber ring laser to generate a multi-wavelength pulsed light source. The sensor array is composed of multiple uniform sensing FBGs at different positions and with different nominal wavelengths. The warning signal is obtained by only monitoring the time slot between the injected pulse and the reflected pulse. The measurement range and resolution are theoretically discussed and experimentally demonstrated.     

基于虚拟仪器和可调谐激光技术的光纤光栅传感系统

提出了一种新颖的基于虚拟仪器(VI)和可调谐激光技术的光纤光栅(FBG)传感系统,利用可调谐激光对由光纤光栅组成的传感器阵列进行波长扫描,实现了多根光栅的复用准静态解调,并结合抖动技术和反馈环结构,使得探测信号在每一根传感光栅中心波长处过零,以提高系统在测定波长偏移时的分辨力。当反馈环工作在闭环状态下时,该系统还可对单根光栅实现动态跟踪锁定,实现单根光栅的动态解调。该传感系统的数据采集采用虚拟仪器技术,通过多通道同时输入输出实现了在线实时解调。实验采用了4根光栅组成传感阵列,获得了静态多根光栅小于1με和单根光栅动态频率10 Hz时3.3 n/εHz的解调分辨力,动态应变范围在850με。     

高双折射光纤中模式耦合空间分布的干涉测量法

本文应用干涉技术测量高双折射偏振保持光纤中模式耦合点的空间分布，测量系统由采用宽带来半导体激光器作为光源的调制迈克尔逊干涉仪组成，通过光程扫描方法探测沿高双折射光纤分布的模式的耦合点。     

Fiber torsion sensor demodulated by a high-birefringence fiber Bragg grating

A new high-birefringence (Hi-Bi) fiber torsion sensor demodulated by a Hi-Bi fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is proposed in this study. The twisted Hi-Bi fiber sensor characteristics are analyzed using the Jones matrix. The intensity ratio from two reflected Bragg wavelengths is associated with the twist angle of the measured Hi-Bi fiber. It is found that the twist angle resolution is estimated at around 0.3° under ±0.1 dB readout from an optical spectrum analyzer if the polarization state of the light source is stable. The advantages of this new torsion sensor are: (1) insensitivity to intensity variations from the light source, (2) insensitivity to the torsion gauge length, and (3) absolute measurement in the twist angle. However, the polarization state of light in the proposed method needs to be controlled, and any birefringence change in the twisted Hi-Bi fiber needs to be prevented.     

Direct measurement of the instantaneous linewidth of rapidly wavelength-swept lasers

The instantaneous linewidth of rapidly wavelength-swept laser sources as used for optical coherence tomography (OCT) is of crucial interest for a deeper understanding of physical effects involved in their operation. Swept lasers for OCT, typically sweeping over ~15 THz in ~10 μs, have linewidths of several gigahertz. The high optical-frequency sweep speed makes it impossible to measure the instantaneous spectrum with standard methods. Hence, up to now, experimental access to the instantaneous linewidth was rather indirect by the inverse Fourier transform of the coherence decay. In this Letter, we present a method by fast synchronous time gating and extraction of a "snapshot" of the instantaneous spectrum with an electro-optic modulator, which can subsequently be measured with an optical spectrum analyzer. This new method is analyzed in detail, and systematic artifacts, such as sideband generation due to the modulation and residual wavelength uncertainty due to the sweeping operation, are quantified. The method is checked for consistency with results from the common, more indirect measurement via coherence properties.     

A novel fiber-laser-based fiber Bragg grating strain sensor with high-birefringence Sagnac fiber loop mirror

A novel fiber-laser-based strain sensor is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The laser cavity is composed of a high-birefringence Sagnac fiber loop mirror （HiBi-SFLM） and a fiber Bragg grating （FBG） which also acts as a strain-sensing element. In the linear region of the HiBi-SFLM reflection spectrum, when the strain applied on the FBG makes the Bragg grating wavelength shift, the laser output power changes due to refleetivity variation of the HiBi-SFLM. Experimental results show that the laser output power varies almost linearly with the applied strain. The measurement of the output power can be performed by a conventional photo-detector.     

Simplified model for calculation of power and spectral characteristics of laser diode with fiber Bragg grating

A simplified model consisting of a laser diode, air gap, and optical fiber is used to calculate power and spectral characteristics and the band width of the radiation of laser with fiber Bragg grating. The results of the simplified model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data on power and spectral characteristics. The radiation band width of the laser diode with fiber Bragg grating can be less than the band width for a single laser diode by four orders of magnitude.     

Self-swept erbium fiber laser around 1.56 μm

Self-swept erbium fiber laser emitting around 1.56?μm is reported in detail. Both sweep directions were registered: pointing toward longer and shorter wavelengths, redshift and blueshift sweeping, respectively. We describe method of determining the direction of the wavelength drift using the monochromator based optical spectrum analyzer. Possible root for this sweeping regime, i.e., the gain modulation along active fiber, is discussed with the help of a simple model calculating the overall cavity gain that can predict the direction of the laser wavelength sweeping.     

All-fiber actively Q-switched fiber laser tuned by a pair of temperature controlled fiber Bragg gratings

We report an all-fiber actively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser, where the linear laser cavity mirrors are composed of two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The laser oscillation wavelength could be tuned by this pair of temperature controlled FBGs. The Q-switching is achieved by an all-fiber phase modulation device. Using this system, we could obtain stable Q-switched laser pulses output, which could be optimized by tuning the reflection wavelengths of the two FBGs to be adjacent to each other. Instead of being modulated by the FBG filter in high-speed oscillation, this fiber laser system is operating in the Q-switched regime using an all-fiber phase modulator, producing a more stable laser output spectrum.     

L波段高掺铒光纤超荧光光源

采用半导体激光二极管泵浦12cm长高掺铒光纤,在双程前向装置中,获得了10.8mW最大超荧光输出功率,斜率效率10.6%,在1553.1~1588.6nm接近36nm的范围内,功率抖动小于0.2dBm。作为比较,在相同实验条件下泵浦10cm长的高掺铒光纤,结果显示输出光谱带宽明显下降,C波段的放大自发辐射远大于L波段的,由此也证明了L波段的放大自发辐射是由C波段的放大自发辐射泵浦产生的。     

Optical fiber sensor based on a radio frequency Mach-Zehnder interferometer

This Letter proposes an optical fiber radio frequency (RF) Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) for sensing applications. An RF modulated laser source is injected into an optical fiber RF-MZI and collected by a photodiode. The interference pattern is observed in the RF domain by sweeping the frequency using a network analyzer. The proposed sensor has a linear response to applied temperature change. In addition, the sensitivity, observation frequency range, and the length of the sensing arm are discussed.     

基于匹配光纤光栅法布里-珀罗干涉仪的应变解调方法

提出并实验验证了一种基于匹配光纤光栅法布里-珀罗干涉仪的应变传感器解调方法,该方法综合了光纤法布里-珀罗干涉技术和匹配光纤光栅滤波法的优点.通过半导体制冷片和压电陶瓷组成的闭环负反馈控制系统,精确调节匹配光栅法布里-珀罗干涉仪的温度和应变,有效解决了光栅法布里-珀罗干涉仪的失配问题,从而保证系统静态工作点处于最佳匹配位置,同时能够避免探头因环境温度波动导致的测量误差.实验结果表明,该系统能够响应50~800 Hz的输入信号,应变最小分辨力至少为0.4 nε/Hz^1/2,解调灵敏度高,且不受环境温度波动的影响,因而在动态应变或振动测量中具有较高的实用性.     

光纤光栅传感器阵列有源时域地址查询技术

报道了一种基于环形腔光纤激光器和1×4模拟电子开关的具备实时监测功能的光纤光栅传感网络查询技术,利用级联的波分复用光栅串充当环形腔光纤激光器端镜,借助可调法布里珀罗滤波器对反射的信号光进行扫描,调整光路结构并增加抽运光强度使信号光得到足够的增益,则可获得各传感元工作波长的激光脉冲,且依时序输出。又引入1×4模拟电子开关,将转换为电信号的激光输出按时序分配至4个输出信道。结合非平衡扫描干涉解调技术,实现了对4光栅传感阵列的查询解调。1555 nm波长时系统传感灵敏度的实验值为1.630°/με,与理论值1.674°/με基本吻合。