Measurement of Brillouin gain spectrum distribution along an optical fiber by direct frequency modulation of a laser diode

A novel scheme for measuring Brillouin gain spectrum distribution along an optical fiber is developed. This scheme utilizes direct frequency modulation of a laser diode for two purposes: generation of the pump and probe lightwaves, and position-selective excitation of stimulated Brillouin scattering. A laser diode is modulated with a rectangular-wave signal, so that the pump and probe lightwaves for Brillouin gain spectrum measurement are generated in time-division manner. A sinusoidal-wave signal is mixed with the modulation signal for spreading the spectra of the pump and probe lightwaves. Because of the spread spectra, stimulated Brillouin scattering occurs in a small section of the fiber where the two lightwaves are highly correlated. The Brillouin gain spectrum at the section is obtained selectively. The section to be measured is chosen by varying the period of the sinusoidal modulation. Experimental result of measurement of the Brillouin spectrum distribution with a spatial resolution of 70 cm is presented. As a comparison, another system is demonstrated, where the probe lightwave is generated by intensity modulation with LN modulator. Spatial resolution of about 6.5 cm is achieved.

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