Distributed Fiber-Optic Sensors Based on Principle of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering

Abstract

The report is devoted to the analysis of distributed fiber-optic sensors based on the phenomenon of stimulated Brillouin scattering. They are of great interest for research due to their ability to measure the temperature and strains at superlong distances with high accuracy and high spatial resolution. The functional dependences of the output signals characteristics on parameters measured by the sensors are given in the paper. Of particular interest are the results of the analysis of the spectral component shifts in the Brillouin light scattering depending on the fiber elongation and temperature. After a brief review of the basic theoretical principles the results of some researches aimed to expand the dynamic range and to increase spatial resolution. The results of simulation in professional design software environment OptiSystem 17.1 are described in the article. To test the simulation results and detection of common features in spectrograms the experimental testing was carried out. The results obtained show that it is possible to implement fiberoptic sensors based on Brillouin scattering in telecommunication systems, mining, oil and gas industry, as well as in electric-power industry, construction, aviation and space industry. The objectives for the further research are to perform metrological analysis at all stages of the method implementation, to complete the base of Brillouin spectrograms for optical fiber of various types and to improve algorithms for automated processing spectra in order to expand functionality of the systems. In conclusion, the overview of some applications is given in this paper.

Keywords

• optical fiber
• brillouin scattering
• distributed temperature sensors
• optical fiber sensors