Narrow linewidth fiber laser for 100-km optical frequency domain reflectometry

Author

Geng, Jihong ; Spiegelberg, Christine ; Jiang, Shibin

Author_Institution

NP Photonics Inc., Tucson, AZ, USA

Volume

17

Issue

9

fYear

2005

Firstpage

1827

Lastpage

1829

Abstract

A diode-pumped single-frequency piezoelectrically tuned fiber laser with narrow spectral linewidth has been used as a light source in applications for long-range coherent frequency-domain reflectometry. Frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) measurements of Rayleigh back-scattering and Fresnel reflection from a 95-km-long fiber have been demonstrated without the use of an optical amplifier. This is, to our knowledge, the longest distance measurement with FMCW. The high sensitivity and dynamic range of the long-range backscattering measurements benefit from the extremely long coherence length of the narrow linewidth fiber laser, which has been estimated to be 210 km in air.

Keywords

Rayleigh scattering; fibre lasers; frequency modulation; laser ranging; light refraction; optical fibre testing; optical pumping; reflectometry; spectral line narrowing; 95 km; Fresnel reflection; Rayleigh back-scattering; coherence length; distance measurement; fiber laser; frequency-modulated continuous-wave measurement; narrow spectral linewidth; optical frequency domain reflectometry; piezoelectric tuning; single-frequency laser; Diodes; Fiber lasers; Frequency domain analysis; Frequency measurement; Fresnel reflection; Laser tuning; Light sources; Optical sensors; Reflectometry; Stimulated emission; Distance measurement; Rayleigh scattering; frequency modulation; laser radar;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photonics Technology Letters, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1041-1135

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/LPT.2005.853258

Filename

1498872