Means for easy and accurate measurement of the stimulated Brillouin scattering gain coefficient in optical fiber

We propose and investigate an accurate method for the experimental measurement of the stimulated Brillouin scattering gain coefficient in optical fiber. The gain is extracted from measuring the transmitted pump power at the threshold of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) laser oscillation in a Fabry-Perot cavity formed by Fresnel reflection at the fiber ends. The method is free from a range of uncertainties and difficulties of commonly used approaches and is easy to implement. Experimental evidence of the variation of the SBS gain coefficient with numerical aperture of the fiber, first predicted in [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1879 (2000)], is proven.     

Micro-displacement or bending measurement using a long-period fibre grating in a self-referenced fibre optic intensity sensor

The measurement of micro-displacement or bending using a long-period fibre grating (LPG) in a self-referenced fibre optic intensity sensor is presented. The sensing head is based on a LPG whose attenuation peak changes as a function of its micro-displacement or bending and the fibre optic intensity sensor is referenced in frequency. Two other LPGs were used as rejection filters, located at the output of the optical source to shorten its spectral width. The implemented experimental set-up is described and, the results are presented being considered the measurement range and the intrinsic resolution.     

Single LED based dual wavelength referenced optical fibre sensor system using intensity modulation

An intensity-modulated optical fibre sensor system is described which employs a single LED source to provide the measurand and the reference signals with two separate wavelength bands. The allocated wavelength bands are selected to minimize any differential intensity effects that may arise from LED thermal variations. The sensor system, comprising a transceiver unit connected to an optical displacement sensor using a single optical fibre, provides an output fully referenced for all major common-mode variations that are likely to occur. Performance characteristics for the prototype system are reported which show a linear displacement range of over 20 mm.     

基于TTDF和CNS算法的多路BOTDR散射谱信息高精度分析研究

传统的BOTDR光纤传感系统采用单路传感光纤实现对信息特征的测量,交叉敏感等不可控因素会使散射谱拟合精度较低,信息分析偏差较大。设计了一种同时对多路传感信息进行检测的BOTDR系统。针对基于布里渊光时域反射(BOTDR) 的多路传感散射谱高精度特征提取的要求,提出了一种三次数据融合(TTDF)与布谷鸟牛顿搜索(CNS)相结合的散射谱信息分析方法。该方法利用TTDF对信息数据的融合能力,根据狄克逊准则和格拉布斯准则,剔除了异常值的影响,减小了传感信号的误差;采用布谷鸟牛顿搜索算法进行频谱拟合,不仅通过布谷鸟的智能搜索能力得到全局最优解,而且以该最优解作为牛顿算法的初值进行局部寻优,保证了频谱拟合的精度,提高了布里渊散射谱信息分析的准确度。在温度信息散射谱线性权重比为1∶9的情况下,分析了不同线宽散射谱信息的提取。采用该方法进行多路数据融合的方差约为0.003 0,散射谱的中心频率约为11.213 GHz,温度误差小于0.15 K。理论分析和仿真结果表明,将此方法用于基于布里渊光时域反射的多路分布式光纤传感系统,可有效提高多路传感信号的准确度和布里渊散射谱信息分析的精确度。     

Temperature and strain dependence of the power level and frequency of spontaneous Brillouin scattering in optical fibers

The strain dependence of the optical power of Brillouin scattering in optical fibers has been measured for the first time to our knowledge. Together with measurements of the dependence of Brillouin power on temperature and the variation of Brillouin frequency with temperature and strain, we demonstrate, for what we believe to be the first time, the feasibility of a simultaneous temperature and strain sensor based on spontaneous Brillouin scattering.     

Optical coherent detection Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensor based on orthogonal polarization diversity reception

In Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensor, using optical coherent detection to detect Brillouin scattering optical signal is a good method, but there exists the polarization correlated detection problem. A novel detecting scheme is presented and demonstrated experimentally, which adopts orthogonal polarization diversity reception to resolve the polarization correlated detection problem. A laser is used as pump and reference light sources, a microwave electric-optical modulator (EOM) is adopted to produce frequency shift reference light, a polarization controller is used to control the polarization of the reference light which is changed into two orthogonal polarization for two adjacent acquisition periods. The Brillouin scattering light is coherently detected with the reference light, and the Brillouin scattering optical signal is taken out based on Brillouin frequency shift. After electronic processing, better Brillouin distributed sensing signal is obtained. A 25-km Brillouin distributed optical fiber sensor is achieved.     

基于光相干外差检测的布里渊散射DOFS的研究

对布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器(DOFS)检测原理进行了分析, 针对布里渊散射光信号的特点, 应用光相干和外差技术来检测布里渊散射光信号. 具体采用微波电光调制产生频率可调的参考光, 和布里渊散射光进行相干检测, 根据布里渊频移特性取出布里渊散射光信号, 从而得到分布式传感信号. 分别实现了25 km光纤的分布式温度和应变传感, 达到3℃的温度分辨率、100 με的应变分辨率和10 m的空间分辨率.     

波分复用串联的布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器

在一定分辨率和响应时间要求下，应用波分复用技术来串联布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器，解决了同时进行传感和通信存在的信号干扰.具体是采用波分复用来隔离传感光信号与通信光信号，同时应用光相干外差接收来分离传感与通信之间的电信号频谱.实现了两台布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器之间的串联，单台传感器的传感距离为25 km，串联后达到50 km.     

希尔伯特变换处理的布里渊散射DOFS的研究

光时域反射结构的布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器所检测的自发布里渊散射光信号非常微弱,且频带宽度在几十兆赫以上,难以应用普通相干解调方法,提出了基于希尔伯特变换的光相干检测方法,具体采用微波电光调制产生频移参考光和自发布里渊散射光进行相干检测得到光电信号,再应用基于希尔伯特变换的数字信号处理技术对光电信号进行幅度解调,得到了信噪比改善的布里渊散射光谱,从而有利于提高传感器的检测性能,     

一个新型的基于全光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪BOTDR系统

报道了新型的分布式传感测量布里渊光时域反射(BOTDR)系统.布里渊散射频移和强度均依赖于温度和应变,因此,BOTDR利用光纤中的自发布里渊散射作为测量信号可以实现分布式温度和应变测量.在BOTDR中,光源采用窄谱半导体激光器,并由声光调制器调制成脉冲光,经掺铒光纤放大器放大后,注入测试光纤以产生自发布里渊散射.利用双通Mach-Zehnder干涉仪分离光纤背向散射中的自发布里渊散射与瑞利散射信号,实现了自发布里渊散射的直接检测.实验结果表明基于全光纤Mach-Zehnder干涉仪BOTDR方案是可行的.     

Brillouin fibre laser discrete sensor for simultaneous strain and temperature measurement

In this work, a Brillouin fibre laser sensor for strain and temperature discrimination is presented. The fibre laser sensor consists of a Fabry–Pérot cavity with 20 m of optical fibre between two Bragg gratings. For the strain measurement, the 20 m were split in half and in 10 m a pre-tension was applied originating two Brillouin peaks. For the temperature measurement all of the sensing head was heated. The resolutions achieved were ±1 με and ±1 °C for strain and temperature measurements, respectively. PACS 42.81.-I; 42.55.Wd; 42.65.Es     

Accuracy enhancement in Brillouin scattering distributed temperature sensor based on Hilbert transform

The scattering optical signal of OTDR based Brillouin scattering distributed sensor is very weak and have a frequency width of several decades megahertz, so it is hard to perform the traditional analogue coherent demodulation. A novel optical coherent detection based on Hilbert transform is presented here. In detail, Brillouin backscattering light is coherent detected with the reference light, which is modulated by microwave electric optical modulator to produce frequency-adjustable light, then the detected photocurrent signal is demodulated by digital signal processing based on Hilbert transform, and at last the distributed sensing signal with better S/N ratio is gained, which can enhance the performance of the sensor. The simulation and experimental results of the detection method are given.     

分布式光纤布里渊散射温度传感实验系统

提出一种基于布里渊光时域反射计法的分布式光纤布里渊散射温度传感系统.光源采用窄谱半导体激光器.声光调制器将光源调制成窄脉冲,并由高增益光纤放大器放大,产生高功率光脉冲信号,提高了自发布里渊散射信号的强度.采用双通马赫-曾德干涉仪将布里渊散射从瑞利散射中分离出来,在一段4.25 km长的光纤上进行分布式温度传感的实验研究.双通马赫-曾德干涉仪对瑞利散射进行了很好的抑制,得到了比较纯净的随温度变化的布里渊散射信号.     

Modelling of multi-line Brillouin/erbium fibre lasers

Laser sources with unique properties can be produced using a combination of nonlinear Brillouin gain in single-mode optical fibre (SMOF) and gain in erbium-doped fibre (EDF). Narrow bandwidth nonlinear gain from stimulated Brillouin scattering in SMOF determines the wavelength of operation, and gain in EDF allows efficient operation and large power extraction. Various cascading schemes based on the Brillouin/erbium fibre laser (BEFL) as well as distinctive multi-wavelength versions of the BEFL were proposed, being able to produce 10GHz combs of over 30 lines at 1550 nm. These multi-wavelength sources may be of use in future dense wavelength-division multiplexing systems. We explore fundamental aspects of BEFLs configured to generate multiple wavelengths with particular focus on the effects of the Brillouin and EDF pumps on the number of lines and the relationship between the intensities of the individual lines in the comb.     

基于自适应变异果蝇优化算法和广义回归神经网络的布里渊散射谱特征提取

针对布里渊光时域反射光纤传感系统散射谱的高精度特征提取的要求,提出了一种基于自适应变异果蝇优化算法和广义回归神经网络的布里渊散射谱特征提取算法。不仅利用了广义回归神经网络在逼近能力、学习速度、模型的泛化等方面具有的优势,而且采用搜索能力较强的自适应变异果蝇优化算法进一步增强了神经网络的学习能力,从而提高了布里渊散射谱的拟合度和频移提取的准确度。在布里渊散射谱中心频率为11.213 GHz,线宽为40～50,30～60和20～70 MHz的散射谱白噪声实验模型中,将新算法分别与基于有限元分析的Levenberg-Marquardt拟合法、粒子群优化和拉凡格式混合拟合法、最小二乘法进行预测比较,新算法获得的最大拟合频移误差为0.4 MHz,平均拟合度为0.991 2,均方根误差为0.024 1。仿真结果表明所提出的算法拟合度较好,绝对误差小。因此,将此算法用于基于布里渊光时域反射的分布式光纤传感系统,可有效提高布里渊散射谱的拟合度和频移提取的准确度。     

基于经典小波变换的布里渊光时域反射计光信号处理

布里渊光时域反射计结构的布里渊散射分布式光纤传感器检测的是自发散射光,信号非常微弱,而且频带在几十兆赫兹以上,难以应用普通相干解调方法。针对传感散射光信号特点,提出基于经典(Morlet)小波变换的光相干检测方法。首先采用微波电光调制产生频移参考光和自发布里渊散射光进行相干检测,再应用经典小波变换进行散射光信号的幅度解调,得到信噪比改善的布里渊散射传感光信号。给出了数值模拟和实验数据处理结果,表明经典小波变换能较好地处理布里渊光时域反射计检测信号。并和基于希尔伯特(Hilbert)变换的传感信号处理方法进行了对比,发现此方法优于基于希尔伯特变换的信号处理。     

Investigation of various transmission properties and launching techniques of plastic optical fibres suitable for transmission of high optical powers

The significant parameters for plastic fibres with various core/cladding combinations are given: refractive index, numerical aperture, critical angle of total internal reflection at the core/cladding interface and maximum angle of aperture. The output power of a plastic fibre (PS/PMMA) was measured as a function of the angle of incidence. The results are interpreted using the ray optical fibre transmission model. Various launch-loss-reducing optical end-face working procedures are compared. We also investigated a method to avoid Fresnel reflection losses by a Brewster angled fibre input end-face for a linearly polarized light beam. The transverse and longitudinal intensity distribution of the output beam of a PS/PMMA fibre was measured. We conclude that a single large core clad plastic fibre is a promising alternative to a multi-glass fibre bundle for some applications.     

Brillouin-based fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor with optical preamplification

Optical preamplification has been used in a fiber-optic distributed temperature sensor based on spontaneous Brillouin scattering and the use of direct detection, resulting in improved signal-to-noise ratios. The fiber-based optical preamplifier system comprises a three-port circulator, an erbium-doped fiber amplifier with a small-signal gain of 27 dB, and a fiber Bragg grating with 47-GHz bandwidth. An improvement of 17 dB in the optical signal-to-noise ratio for the Brillouin signal is demonstrated in a 23-km sensor. The limit to the signal-to-noise ratio is attributed to spontaneous-spontaneous beat noise generated at the photodetector by amplified spontaneous emission from the optical amplifier.     

Output dynamics and stabilisation of a multi-mode double-clad Yb-doped silica fibre laser

The intensity dynamics of the double-clad Yb fibre laser have been characterised. Stabilisation of the fibre laser intensity by using uniform bi-directional pumping is demonstrated. For the single-end-pumped Yb fibre laser, the output becomes more stable for the shorter fibre length due to the higher threshold of stimulated Brillouin scattering, SBS, and Kerr effects and the reduction of saturated absorber effects caused by any unpumped fibre section. By additional pumping in a double-end-pumped configuration, the output power can be scaled higher before detecting high intensity pulses initiated by SBS in the Yb fibre laser due to the reduction of saturable absorption effect. It is confirmed that uniform pumping enhances the stability of the laser output.