Enhanced bandwidth distributed acoustic sensing using a frequency multiplexed pulse train and micro-machined point reflector fiber

Abstract

In this Letter, we present an enhanced bandwidth distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) that uses a frequency multiplexed interrogation system to probe a micro-machined point reflector fiber. The fiber contains a series of discrete point reflectors with reflectance as high as −48 dB, while the frequency multiplexed interrogator allows us to increase the effective pulse repetition rate by a factor of 10. Together, this enables a phase noise as low as −101 dB (re rad2/Hz) for a 2.5 km fiber with 10 m spatial resolution, corresponding to a strain noise of 0.095 p ε / Hz . This scheme also enables a 10-fold increase in the sensor bandwidth without introducing noise due to interference fading. Finally, we demonstrate sensing at ranges up to 10 km using a fiber containing 1000 point reflectors, illustrating the scalability of this approach.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jan 20, 2022
Source ID
10.1364/ol.449223

Entities

People

  • Brandon Redding
  • Hannah M. Ogden
  • Martynas Beresna
  • Timothy J Lee

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory
  • University of Southampton

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Optical Fiber Sensing and Electromagnetic Propagation.
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.
  • Phased Array Antenna Design.