Distributed Fiber Birefringence Measurement Using Pulse-Compression Φ-OTDR

• Published in: Photonic sensors (Berlin) Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 402 - 410
• Main Authors: Chen, Yongxiang, Fu, Yun, Xiong, Ji, Wang, Zinan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Backscattering; Birefringence; Lasers; Measurement methods; Measurement Science and Instrumentation; Microscopes; Microwaves; Numerical analysis; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Polarization; Regular; RF and Optical Engineering; Spatial resolution; pulse-compression; coherent detection; Birefringence; Rayleigh scattering; polarization-diverse receiver; phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry
• ISSN: 1674-9251; 2190-7439
• DOI: 10.1007/s13320-020-0604-3

In this paper, a novel birefringence measurement method through the Rayleigh backscattered lightwave within single-mode fiber is proposed, using a single chirped-pulse with arbitrary state of polarization. Numerical analysis is carried out in detail, then pulse-compression phase-sensitive optical time domain reflectometry (PC-Φ-OTDR) with polarization-diverse coherent detection is employed to verify this method. A 2km spun single-mode fiber is tested with 8.6 cm spatial resolution, and the average birefringence of the fiber under test is measured as 0.234rad/m, which is consistent with previous literatures about single-mode fiber. Moreover, the relationship between the measured birefringence and the spatial resolution is also studied for the first time, and the results show that spatial resolution is crucial for fiber birefringence measurement.