Distributed optical fiber sensing using forward propagation of multiple modes

Kavli Affiliate: Alireza Marandi

| First 5 Authors: Luis Costa, Zhongwen Zhan, Alireza Marandi, ,

| Summary:

Fiber optic distributed sensors typically demand bidirectional propagation in
optical fibers to localize each point of measurement. This imposes barriers to
their deployment in long-haul, amplified telecommunication links and prevents
massive range enhancement through in-line amplification, due to the typical
presence of non-reciprocal elements such as isolators. In this work, we propose
and experimentally demonstrate a new method for distributed sensing that
localizes the measurand information in a single unidirectional transmission
measurement in fibers carrying at least two weakly coupled non-degenerate
co-propagating modes, using swept wavelength interferometry for interrogation.
We experimentally demonstrate our proof-of-principle, achieving quantitative
strain and temperature measurements with measurand resolutions of 1.2
$muvarepsilon$ and 0.135 K, respectively, and spatial resolutions in the tens
of meter range, using SMF-28 as a three-mode fiber at 1064 nm center
wavelength. These results can be extended to other
space-division-multiplexing-ready fibers operating in telecom wavelength bands.
Our work paves the way for ultra-long range distributed sensing that is
compatible with currently evolving amplified space-division multiplexed
telecommunication links.

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