Differential measurement scheme for Brillouin Optical Correlation Domain Analysis

Abstract

We newly propose and experimentally demonstrate a differential measurement scheme for Brillouin optical correlation domain analysis, where the difference between Brillouin gain spectra constructed by a normal and a phase-modulated Brillouin pump waves are analyzed to measure local Brillouin frequencies in optical fibers. In experiments, a fivefold enhancement in the spatial resolution is obtained compared to an ordinary BOCDA system under the same modulation parameters, as a result of the improved dynamic range by the suppression of background noises. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America