Source: http://aoot.osa.org/oe/abstract.cfm?uri=oe-23-21-27960
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 18:00:46+00:00

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Current optical reflectometric techniques used to characterize optical fibers have to trade-off longitudinal range with spatial resolution and therefore struggle to provide simultaneously wide dynamic range (>20dB) and high resolution (<10cm). In this work, we develop and present a technique we refer to as Optical Side Scattering Radiometry (OSSR) capable of resolving discrete and distributed scattering properties of fibers along their length with up to 60dB dynamic range and 5cm spatial resolution. Our setup is first validated on a standard single mode telecoms fiber. Then we apply it to a record-length 11km hollow core photonic band-gap fiber (HC-PBGF) the characterization requirements of which lie far beyond the capability of standard optical reflectometric instruments. We next demonstrate use of the technique to investigate and explain the unusually high loss observed in another HC-PBGF and finally demonstrate its flexibility by measuring a HC-PBGF operating at a wavelength of 2µm. In all of these examples, good agreement between the OSSR measurements and other well-established (but more limited) characterization methods, i.e. cutback loss and OTDR, was obtained.
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Fig. 1 Visual representation of the dynamic range vs. longitudinal resolution of commercial reflectometry systems (> 70 instruments) as compared to the OSSR method described in this work. Different colors in OTDRs and OFDRs sections show different brands and instruments respectively. Point A refers to Luciol LOR-220 IR and Luciol ν-OTDR and point B refers to Anritsu MW9087D, EXFO FTB-7600E, JDSU 8100D and Yokogawa AQ7285A. OFDR systems in this plot belong to Luna Technologies. The detailed list of devices analyzed for this figure is stored in the repository link provided at the end of Acknowledgment section.
Fig. 2 The setup of the proposed OSSR.
Fig. 3 The light coupling assembly: (a) the designed arrangement; (b) fabricated and installed on the rewinding machine.
Fig. 4 Scattering trace of the SMF28e. The inset shows a magnified part of the trace.
Fig. 5 The CP of the out-scattered power. Inset: magnification of the second half of the trace.
Fig. 6 (a) The SEM cross-section image of the record-length HC-PBGF. (b) Transmission characteristics of the fiber. The thick arrow shows the position of minimum loss.
Fig. 7 The OSSR result of end-to-end measurement of the record-length HC-PBGF. The inset shows the very first section of the fiber.
Fig. 8 (a) OTDR and (b) OSSR measurements of the 11km long HC-PBGF obtained by launching from both ends respectively. The inset (c) shows a magnification of a discrete scattering event.
Fig. 9 Analysis of the highlighted defect of Fig. 8(c) in the 11km HC-PBGF: (a) The cumulative power trace across the defect; (b) corresponding OSSR trace.
Fig. 10 An example of a high-loss HC-PBGF: (a) the transmission properties of the fiber; (b) the SEM image of the cross-section showing a uniform and undistorted structure.
Fig. 11 Analysis via OTDR, (a), and OSSR, (b), of a high-loss defective length of a HC-PBGF. (c) shows the OTDR measurement in the opposite direction as compared to (a); and (d) is the OSSR result in the reverse direction as compared to (b). Wavelength is 1550nm for the OTDR (2ns pulse width) and 1557nm for the OSSR.
Fig. 12 An example of a HC-PBGF designed to operate at the wavelength of 2µm: a) the SEM image of the cross-section; b) the transmission properties of the fiber.
Fig. 13 The OSSR result of the 2µm HC-PBGF: The OSSR trace with the loss estimation over the clean section of the fiber.

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