Brillouin scattering in multi-core optical fibers for sensing applications

Multi-parameter distributed fiber optic sensing using double-Brillouin peak fiber in Brillouin optical time domain analysis

In this paper, we demonstrate a multi-parameter fiber sensing system based on stimulated Brillouin scattering in a double-Brillouin peak specialty fiber with enhanced Brillouin gain response. The amplitude level of the second Brillouin gain peak, which originated from the higher-order acoustic modes, has been improved with an approximately similar amplitude level to the first Brillouin gain peak from the fundamental acoustic mode. Compared to other multi-Brillouin peak fibers presented in the literature, the proposed fiber significantly reduces the measured Brillouin frequency shift error, thus improving strain and temperature accuracies. By utilizing the sensitivity values of the strain and temperature associated with each Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) peak, a successful discriminative measurement of strain and temperature is performed with an accuracy of ±13 μɛ, and ±0.5 °C, respectively. The proposed double-Brillouin peak fiber appears to be a possible alternative to other multi-BGS peak fibers, for instance, large effective area fiber and dispersion compensating fibers, which are inherently accompanied by large measurement errors due to the weak Brillouin gain values originating from the higher-order acoustic modes. The demonstrated results show different strain and temperature coefficients of 47 kHz/µɛ, 1.15 MHz/°C for peak 1 and 51 kHz/µɛ, 1.37 MHz/°C for peak 2. Moreover, the enhanced BGS peak gains having nearly the same amplitude levels enable the discriminative measurement of strain and temperature. Such fibers in Brillouin interrogation eliminate the need for complex monitoring setups and reduce measurement errors. We recommend that for long-distance natural gas pipeline monitoring, where discriminative strain and temperature measurement is crucial, the proposed double-Brillouin peak fiber can be highly beneficial.

Dynamic temperature-strain discrimination using a hybrid distributed fiber sensor based on Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering

We present a distributed fiber sensor capable of discriminating between temperature and strain while performing low-noise, dynamic measurements. This was achieved by leveraging recent advances in Brillouin and Rayleigh based fiber sensors. In particular, we designed a hybrid sensor that combines a slope-assisted Brillouin optical time domain analysis system with a Rayleigh-scattering-based frequency scanning optical time domain reflectometry system. These sub-systems combine state-of-the-art sensitivity with the ability to perform both dynamic and quasi-static measurements. This enabled a hybrid system capable of temperature/strain discrimination with a quasi-static temperature resolution of 16 m°C and a strain resolution of 140 nɛ along 500 m of single mode fiber with 5 m spatial resolution. In contrast to previously reported techniques, this approach also enabled dynamic measurements with a bandwidth of 1.7 kHz and temperature (strain) noise spectral density of 0.54 m°C/√Hz (4.5 nɛ/√Hz) while temperature/strain cross-sensitivity was suppressed by at least 25 dB. This represents a dramatic improvement in measurement speed and sensitivity compared with existing techniques capable of temperature/strain discrimination in standard single mode fiber.

Discriminative strain and temperature sensing using a ring-hyperbolic tangent fiber sensor

Brillouin fiber sensors have demonstrated strong capability in discriminative and high-sensitivity multiparameter measurements. In this study, we proposed and numerically investigated novel ring core fiber-based stimulated Brillouin scattering for the simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain. The novel fiber, referred to as ring hyperbolic tangent (R-HTAN) fiber, is characterized by a shape parameter (α) that controls the optical refractive index and longitudinal acoustic velocity profiles. Numerical modal simulations indicated that the Brillouin gain spectrum contained multiple widely spaced and high-gain peaks, which were attributed to the strong interaction between the optical linearly polarized mode (i.e., LP_0,1 as a pump wave) and multiple high-order longitudinal acoustic modes. The designed R-HTAN fiber enabled the discriminative sensing of temperature and strain with levels that clearly surpassed values recently reported in the literature. In case of straight R-HTAN fiber (α = 0), the maximum C(α=0)T and C(α=0)ε are 1.928 MHz/ ^∘C and 0.087 MHz, respectively. In case of graded R-HTAN fiber (α = 1), the maximum C(α=1)T and C(α=1)ε are 1.872 MHz/ ^∘C and 0.0842 MHz/μɛ, respectively. The errors associated with temperature measurements (maximum δT_(α=0) = 0.0846 ^∘C and maximum δT_(α=1) = 7.4184 ^∘C) and strain measurements (maximum δɛ_(α=0) = 0.7250 μɛ and maximum δɛ_(α=1) = 7.4184 μɛ) demonstrated that the proposed fiber could be a promising candidate for next-generation Brillouin sensing systems for enabling temperature and strain discrimination.

Review of Specialty Fiber Based Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis Technology

Specialty fibers have introduced new functionalities and opportunities in distributed fiber sensing applications. Particularly, Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA) systems have leveraged the unique features of specialty fibers to achieve performance enhancement in various sensing applications. This paper provides an overview of recent developments of the specialty fibers based BOTDA technologies and their sensing applications. The specialty fibers based BOTDA systems are categorized and reviewed based on the new features or performance enhancements. The prospects of using specialty fibers for BOTDA systems are discussed.

Review: distributed time-domain sensors based on Brillouin scattering and FWM enhanced SBS for temperature, strain and acoustic wave detection

Distributed time-domain Brillouin scattering fiber sensors have been widely used to measure the changes of the temperature and strain. The linear dependence of the temperature and strain on the Brillouin frequency shift enabled the distributed temperature and strain sensing based on mapping of the Brillouin gain spectrum. In addition, an acoustic wave can be detected by the four wave mixing (FWM) associated SBS process, in which phase matching condition is satisfied via up-down conversion of SBS process through birefringence matching before and after the conversion process. Brillouin scattering can be considered as the scattering of a pump wave from a moving grating (acoustic phonon) which induces a Doppler frequency shift in the resulting Stokes wave. The frequency shift is dependent on many factors including the velocity of sound in the scattering medium as well as the index of refraction. Such a process can be used to monitor the gain of random fiber laser based on SBS, the distributed acoustic wave reflect the distributed SBS gain for random lasing radiation, as well as the relative intensity noise inside the laser gain medium. In this review paper, the distributed time-domain sensing system based on Brillouin scattering including Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry (BOTDR), Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA), and FWM enhanced SBS for acoustic wave detection are introduced for their working principles and recent progress. The distributed Brillouin sensors based on specialty fibers for simultaneous temperature and strain measurement are summarized. Applications for the Brillouin scattering time-domain sensors are briefly discussed.

Distributed multi-parameter sensing utilizing Brillouin frequency shifts contributed by multiple acoustic modes in SSMF

A multi-parameter optical-fiber sensor, which is based on multiple acoustic modes in stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) effect, for distributed measurement of temperature and strain utilizing standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By manipulating doping level and refractive index profile of the fiber, the properties of Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) related to the guided optical and acoustic modes are analyzed. The simulated results indicate that multiple acoustic modes can be excited in single-mode fiber (SMF) and the BGS is composed of multiple peaks corresponding to multiple acoustic modes. Moreover, the temperature and strain sensitivities of different acoustic modes are unequal and the capability of discriminative measurement between temperature and strain can be proved. Simultaneously, the mode field diameter, the dispersion parameter, and the cutoff wavelength are calculated and the results show that parts of SSMF can be used for multi-parameter measurement. However, the accuracy of measurement is varied with the fiber structure parameters. Consequently, in experimental section, two different SSMFs are put into test and both have multiple-peak BGSs although the BGSs show a great difference to each other. The discrimination of temperature and strain is successfully demonstrated by analyzing the coefficients of the Brillouin frequency shifts introduced by different acoustic modes. In the fiber which has a better measurement result, the sensitivities of the fundamental acoustic mode are 1.19 MHz/°C and 62.28 kHz/με with an accuracy of 0.98 °C and 19.6 με in 20 km sensing range.

Strain sensing based on strain to radio-frequency conversion of optical frequency comb

We propose an optical frequency comb (OFC)-based strain sensing method, namely OFC sensing cavity, which is capable of radio-frequency (RF)-based strain measurement. We developed a null-method-based strain sensing system with a comb-spacing-stabilized OFC generator. We realized strain measurement from 1.83 µε to 1800 µε with a sensing fiber length of 20 mm. The measurable strain frequency range of the developed strain sensing system was from 0 to 310 Hz. Owing to the use of RF-based strain measurement, our approach would be a useful and powerful tool for sensing of strain or other physical quantities, and the concept of the OFC sensing cavity is a new aspect of OFC technology.

Discrimination of Temperature and Strain in Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis Using a Multicore Optical Fiber

Brillouin optical time domain analysis is the sensing of temperature and strain changes along an optical fiber by measuring the frequency shift changes of Brillouin backscattering. Because frequency shift changes are a linear combination of temperature and strain changes, their discrimination is a challenge. Here, a multicore optical fiber that has two cores is fabricated. The differences between the cores' temperature and strain coefficients are such that temperature (strain) changes can be discriminated with error amplification factors of 4.57 °C/MHz (69.11 μ ϵ /MHz), which is 2.63 (3.67) times lower than previously demonstrated. As proof of principle, using the multicore optical fiber and a commercial Brillouin optical time domain analyzer, the temperature (strain) changes of a thermally expanding metal cylinder are discriminated with an error of 0.24% (3.7%).

Multicore fiber-Bragg-grating-based directional curvature sensor interrogated by a broadband source with a sinusoidal spectrum

A simple, spectral-drift-insensitive interrogation scheme for a multicore fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-based directional curvature sensor is proposed. The basic principle is to transform the wavelength shift of FBGs into the reflected power variation, which is accomplished by utilizing a broadband source with a sinusoidal spectrum. The closed-form expression of the relationship between the reflected power of the FBG and the corresponding peak wavelength is derived for the first time, to the best of our knowledge; therefore, the peak wavelength of the FBG can be precisely interrogated by using a single photodiode. The experimental results show that, with respect to conventional wavelength measurement by an optical spectrum analyzer, the demodulated wavelength error by our proposed interrogation scheme is within ±20  pm. The proposed scheme is further extended to interrogate the direction and curvature using a multicore FBG-based curvature sensor; the interrogated curvature with an error less than 8% is achieved.

Spatial-division multiplexed Brillouin distributed sensing based on a heterogeneous multicore fiber

We have experimentally investigated spatial-division multiplexed (SDM) Brillouin optical time-domain analysis in a heterogeneous multicore fiber whose central core and six outer cores are made from different preforms, showing a ∼70  MHz Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) difference between them. It reveals that the heterogeneous central core and the outer cores have different temperature sensitivities, but their strain sensitivities are almost the same. By making use of the distinct temperature coefficients of these two kinds of cores, simultaneous and discriminative temperature and strain measurements are achieved. The bending-induced Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) broadening issue in off-center cores has been clarified, and a solution has been proposed to eliminate the uncertainty caused by a bending-induced BFS shift, by averaging the BFS variations of two symmetrical outer cores. We show a new perspective for discriminative measurement in Brillouin distributed sensors based on SDM solutions.

Distributed shape sensing using Brillouin scattering in multi-core fibers

A theoretical and experimental study on the response of Brillouin scattering in multi-core optical fibers (MCF) under different curving conditions is presented. Results demonstrate that the Brillouin frequency shift of the off-center cores in MCF is highly bending-dependent, showing a linear dependence on the fiber curvature. This feature is here exploited to develop a new kind of distributed optical fiber sensor, which provides measurements of a distributed profile mapping the longitudinal fiber shape. Using conventional Brillouin optical time-domain analysis with differential pulse-width pairs, fully distributed shape sensing along a 1 km-long MCF is practically demonstrated. Experimental results show a very good agreement with the theoretically expected behavior deduced from the dependence of the Brillouin frequency on the strain induced by the fiber bending over a given core. The analysis and results presented in this paper constitute the first demonstration of distributed bending sensing, providing the cornerstone to further develop it into a fully distributed three-dimensional shape sensor.

Advanced Spatial-Division Multiplexed Measurement Systems Propositions-From Telecommunication to Sensing Applications: A Review

The concepts of spatial-division multiplexing (SDM) technology were first proposed in the telecommunications industry as an indispensable solution to reduce the cost-per-bit of optical fiber transmission. Recently, such spatial channels and modes have been applied in optical sensing applications where the returned echo is analyzed for the collection of essential environmental information. The key advantages of implementing SDM techniques in optical measurement systems include the multi-parameter discriminative capability and accuracy improvement. In this paper, to help readers without a telecommunication background better understand how the SDM-based sensing systems can be incorporated, the crucial components of SDM techniques, such as laser beam shaping, mode generation and conversion, multimode or multicore elements using special fibers and multiplexers are introduced, along with the recent developments in SDM amplifiers, opto-electronic sources and detection units of sensing systems. The examples of SDM-based sensing systems not only include Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry or Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDR/BOTDA) using few-mode fibers (FMF) and the multicore fiber (MCF) based integrated fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors, but also involve the widely used components with their whole information used in the full multimode constructions, such as the whispering gallery modes for fiber profiling and chemical species measurements, the screw/twisted modes for examining water quality, as well as the optical beam shaping to improve cantilever deflection measurements. Besides, the various applications of SDM sensors, the cost efficiency issue, as well as how these complex mode multiplexing techniques might improve the standard fiber-optic sensor approaches using single-mode fibers (SMF) and photonic crystal fibers (PCF) have also been summarized. Finally, we conclude with a prospective outlook for the opportunities and challenges of SDM technologies in optical sensing industry.