Fiber-optic Doppler velocimeter based on a dual-polarization fiber grating laser

A fiber-optic Doppler velocimeter based on a dual-polarization fiber grating laser is demonstrated. The fiber grating laser produces two orthogonally polarized laser outputs with their frequency difference proportional to the intra-cavity birefringence. When the laser outputs are reflected from a moving targets, the laser frequencies will be shifted due to the Doppler effect. It shows that the frequency difference between the beat note of the laser outputs and the beat note of the reflected lasers is proportional to the velocity. The proposed fiber-optic Doppler velocimeter shows a high sensitivity of 0.64 MHz/m/s and is capable of measurement of wide range of velocity.