Phase-Sensitive Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer Based on a 120°-Phase-Difference Michelson Interferometer

A phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometer （φ-OTDR） based on a 120°-phase-difference Michelson in- terferometer is proposed. The Michelson interferometer with arm difference of 4m is used to test the phase difference between the Rayleigh scattering from two sections of the fiber. A new demodulation method called the inverse transmission matrix demodulation scheme is utilized to demodulate the distributed phase from the backward scattering along the long fiber, The experimental results show that the 120°-phase-difference inter- ferometer φ-OTDR can detect the phase along the 3km fiber, and the acoustic signal within the whole human hearing range of 20 Hz-20 kHz is reproduced accurately and quickly.

Recent Advances in Phase-Sensitive Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (Ф-OTDR)

Phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry(Ф-OTDR)is an effective way to detect vibrations and acoustic waves with high sensitivity,by interrogating coherent Rayleigh backscattering light in sensing fiber.In particular,fiber-optic distributed acoustic sensing(DAS)based on theФ-OTDR with phase demodulation has been extensively studied and widely used in intrusion detection,borehole seismic acquisition,structure health monitoring,etc.,in recent years,with superior advantages such as long sensing range,fast response speed,wide sensing bandwidth,low operation cost and long service lifetime.Significant advances in research and development(R&D)ofФ-OTDR have been made since 2014.In this review,we present a historical review ofФ-OTDR and then summarize the recent progress ofФ-OTDR in the Fiber Optics Research Center(FORC)at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China(UESTC),which is the first group to carry out R&D ofФ-OTDR and invent ultra-sensitive DAS(uDAS)seismometer in China which is elected as one of the ten most significant technology advances of PetroChina in 2019.It can be seen that theФ-OTDR/DAS technology is currently under its rapid development stage and would reach its climax in the next 5 years.

Fabry-Perot Temperature Sensor for Quasi-Distributed Measurement Utilizing OTDR

A quasi-distributed Fabry-Perot fiber optic temperature sensor array using optical time domain reflectometry （OTDR） technique is presented. The F-P sensor is made by two face to face single-mode optical fibers and their surfaces have been polished. Due to the low reflectivity of the fiber surfaces, the sensor is described as low Fresnel Fabry-Perot interferometer （FPI）. The working principle is analyzed using twobeam optical interference approximation. To measure the temperature, a certain temperature sensitive material is filled in the cavity. The slight changes of the reflective intensity which is induced by the refractive index of the material was caught by OTDR. The length of the cavity is obtained by monitoring the interference spectrum which is used for the setting of the sensor static characteristics within the quasi-linear range. Based on our design, a three point sensor array are fabricated and characterized. The experimental results show that with the temperature increasing from -30℃ to 80℃, the reflectivity increase in a good linear manner. The sensitivity was approximate 0.074 dB℃. For the low transmission loss, more sensors can be integrated.

Distributed Fiber Birefringence Measurement Using Pulse-CompressionФ-OTDR

In this paper,a novel birefringence measurement method through the Rayleigh backscattered lightwave within single-mode fiber is proposed,using a single chirped-pulse with arbitrary state of polarization.Numerical analysis is carried out in detail,then pulse-compression phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry(PC-O-OTDR)with polarization-diverse coherent detection is employed to verify this method.A 2 km spun single-mode fiber is tested with 8.6cm spatial resolution,and the average birefringence of the fiber under test is measured as 0.234rad/m,which is consistent with previous literatures about single-mode fiber.Moreover,the relationship between the measured birefringence and the spatial resolution is also studied for the first time,and the results show that spatial resolution is crucial for fiber birefringence measurement.

Study of Ф-OTDR Stability for Dynamic Strain Measurement in Piezoelectric Vibration

In a phase-sensitive optical-time domain reflectometry （Ф-OTDR） system, the challenge for dynamic strain measurement lies in large intensity fluctuations from trace to trace. The intensity fluctuation caused by stochastic characteristics of Rayleigh backscattering sets detection limit for the minimum strength of vibration measurement and causes the large measurement uncertainty. Thus, a trace-to-trace correlation coefficient is introduced to quantify intensity fluctuation of Ф-OTDR traces and stability of the sensor system theoretically and experimentally. A novel approach of measuring dynamic strain induced by various driving voltages of lead zirconate titanate （PZT） in Ф-OTDR is also demonstrated. Piezoelectric vibration signals are evaluated through analyzing peak values of fast Fourier transform spectra at the fundamental frequency and high-order harmonics based on Bessel functions. High trace-to-trace correlation coefficients varying from 0.824 to 0.967 among 100 measurements are obtained in experimental results, showing the good stability of our sensor system, as well as small uncertainty of measured peak values.