Distributed phase birefringence measurements based on polarization correlation in phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometers

In this paper a technique to measure the distributed birefringence profile along optical fibers is proposed and experimentally validated. The method is based on the spectral correlation between two sets of orthogonally-polarized measurements acquired using a phase-sensitive optical time-domain refle...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Soto Hernández, Marcelo Alfonso, Fidalgo Martins, Hugo|||0000-0003-3927-8125, González Herráez, Miguel|||0000-0003-2555-2971, Thévenaz, Luc
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/25740
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/25740
https://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.23.024923
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Fiber optics
Fiber characterization
Scattering
Rayleigh
Optical time domain reflectometry
Ciencias tecnológicas
Electrónica
Technology
Electronics
Descripción
Sumario:In this paper a technique to measure the distributed birefringence profile along optical fibers is proposed and experimentally validated. The method is based on the spectral correlation between two sets of orthogonally-polarized measurements acquired using a phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer (φOTDR). The correlation between the two measured spectra gives a resonance (correlation) peak at a frequency detuning that is proportional to the local refractive index difference between the two orthogonal polarization axes of the fiber. In this way the method enables local phase birefringence measurements at any position along optical fibers, so that any longitudinal fluctuation can be precisely evaluated with metric spatial resolution. The method has been experimentally validated by measuring fibers with low and high birefringence, such as standard single-mode fibers as well as conventional polarizationmaintaining fibers. The technique has potential applications in the characterization of optical fibers for telecommunications as well as in distributed optical fiber sensing.