Stimulated Brillouin scattering suppression by means of applying strain distribution to fiber with cabling

An optical fiber cable that can suppress stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has been developed. Fiber cabling expanded the Brillouin gain bandwidth from 50 MHz to 400 MHz (9 dB). The expansion was caused by a sinusoidal fiber strain distribution of +or-0.35%, which was generated in fiber by a strainholding, double-stranded cable. This work explains the relationship between the cable structure and fiber strain, as well as with the Brillouin gain bandwidth expansion. Fiber loss caused by cabling was studied and found to be small; also, the strained fiber reliability of the cable is assured with the use of carbon-coated fiber. >