Research and analysis of Brillouin distributed sensing system based on quasi-single-mode few-mode fiber

Abstract

A distributed fiber sensor was fabricated by splicing two single-mode fibers (SMFs) using the few-mode fiber (FMF) technique. A Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) system was developed to measure the sensor’s temperature and bending performance. Two-mode and four-mode step FMFs were combined to splice the few-mode segment. The results indicate that the temperature response coefficients of the few-mode segment are only slightly higher than those of the connected single-mode segment, measuring at 1.13 MHz/°C and 1.12 MHz/°C, respectively. The minimum bending radius for the sensor is 0.9 cm, and the four-mode bending response curve is superior to that of the two-mode one, proving that 4-SI-FMF offers better bending sensitivity.

References

[1] HuD J J, HumbertG, DongH, et al.. Review of specialty fiber based Brillouin optical time domain analysis technology[J]. Photonics, 2021, 8(10):421

[2] FengT, ZhouJ, ShangY, et al.. Distributed transverse-force sensing along a single-mode fiber using polarization-analyzing OFDR[J]. Optics express, 2020, 28(21): 31253-31271

[3] GuK, ShiB, LiuC, et al.. Investigation of land subsidence with the combination of distributed fiber optic sensing techniques and microstructure analysis of soils[J]. Engineering geology, 2018, 240: 34-47

[4] DongY. High-performance distributed Brillouin optical fiber sensing[J]. Photonic sensors, 2021, 11(1):22

[5] LiuY, LiH, WangY, et al.. Damage detection of tunnel based on the high-density cross-sectional curvature obtained using strain data from BOTDA sensors[J]. Mechanical systems and signal processing, 2021, 158(3): 107728

[6] LiH, LiuY, CaoJ, et al.. Investigation of the BOTDA technology for structural condition monitoring of urban tunnel[J]. IOP conference series: materials science and engineering, 2019, 603(4): 042003

[7] HuT, HouG, LiZ. The field monitoring experiment of the roof strata movement in coal mining based on DFOS[J]. Sensors, 2020, 20(5): 1318

[8] LiY Q, AnQ, ZhangL X, et al.. High-accuracy Brillouin frequency shift measurement system based on stimulated Brillouin scattering phase shift[J]. Optical engineering, 2017, 56(5): 056102

[9] ShenL, HaoW, ZhaoC, et al.. Distributed curvature sensing based on a bending loss-resistant ring-core fiber[J]. Photonics research, 2020, 8(2): 10

[10] ZhangL X, LiY Q, TianM, et al.. Performance improvement method of single-ended BOTDA system based on Fresnel reflection[J]. Optoelectronics letters, 2022, 18(3): 170-174

[11] ZuoM Q, GeD W, LiuJ X, et al.. Long-haul inter-modal-MIMO-free MDM transmission based on a weakly coupled multiple-ring-core few-mode fiber[J]. Optics express, 2022, 30(4):5868-5878

[12] GuptaR, KalerR S. Nonlinear Kerr and intermodal four-wave mixing effect in mode-division multiplexed multimode fiber link[J]. Optical engineering, 2019, 58(03):036108

[13] SongK Y, KimY H. Characterization of stimulated Brillouin scattering in a few-mode fiber[J]. Optics letters, 2013, 38(22): 4841

[14] ZhangY J, GaoH L, FuX H, et al.. Characterization of Brillouin scattering in a few-mode fiber[J]. Acta physica sinica, 2017, 66(2): 7

[15] LiY Q, LiX J, AnQ, et al.. New method to improve the performance of Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer system[J]. Acta optica sinica, 2015, 35(01): 69-78

[16] EznavehZ S, LopezJ E A, ZacariasJ C A, et al.. All-fiber few-mode multicore photonic lantern mode multiplexer[J]. Optics express, 2017, 25(14):16701-16707

[17] WangY, ZhangC, FuS, et al.. Design of elliptical-core five-mode group selective photonic lantern over the C-band[J]. Optics express, 2019, 27(20):27979-27990

[18] LiY Q, ZhaoX, ZhaoL J, et al.. Brillouin scattering parameters of different modes in multimode optical fibers[J]. Acta photonica sinica, 2015, 44(3):27-33

[19] LiY Q, FanH J, ZhangL X, et al.. Single-mode input fiber combined with multimode sensing fiber used in Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry[J]. Photonics, 2022, 9(6):398

[20] LiA, WangY F, FangJ, et al.. Few-mode fiber multi-parameter sensor with distributed temperature and strain discrimination[J]. Optics letters, 2015, 40(7): 12722-12732

[21] WuH, WangR, LiuD, et al.. Few-mode fiber based distributed curvature sensor through quasi-single-mode Brillouin frequency shift[J]. Optics letters, 2016, 41(7):1514-1517

[22] WuH, TangM. Few-mode optical fiber based simultaneously distributed curvature and temperature sensing[J]. Optics express, 2017, 25(11): 12722