Fiber laser source/analyzer for Bragg grating sensor array interrogation

This paper reports on the application of a calibrated, narrow-linewidth, single-frequency, continuously wavelength-tunable erbium fiber laser to the interrogation of a multipoint Bragg grating temperature sensor. The fiber laser was wavelength-tuned, through an array of three fiber Bragg grating sensors, to determine the temperature of each individual grating. The temperatures of the three gratings were measured as a function of grating Bragg wavelength. The minimum wavelength resolution, due to electro-mechanical repeatability, of the fiber laser source/analyzer was determined to be approximately 2.3 picometers. This corresponds to a frequency resolution of approximately 300 MHz