Elimination of polarization-induced signal fading and reduction of phase noise in interferometric optical fiber sensor using polarization diversity receivers

Interferometric optical fiber sensor relies on the coherent mixing of two optical signals, which is strongly polarization dependent. The fluctuation in the input polarization to an interferometric optical fiber sensor can result in not only the variation of the visibility but also the generation of excess phase noise in the output. In this paper, the relationship between the visibility and polarization-induced phase noise coefficient is described and theoretically confirmed. The use of tri-state polarization diversity receivers to eliminate polarization-induced signal fading and reduce phase noise is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated. The result shows that tri-state PDR that improves the visibility can reduce the polarization-induced phase noise and the signal can be correctly demodulated.