Optical Fiber Voltage Sensor Based on Michelson Interferometer Using Phase Generated Carrier Demodulation Algorithm

In this paper, we demonstrate an improved dynamic demodulation system for acoustic sensors based on distributed feedback-fiber laser (DFB-FL). The signal is demodulated using the phase-generated carrier (PGC) demodulation technology based on unbalanced Michelson interferometer (MI). An improved PGC demodulation algorithm is introduced, which solves the problems of light intensity disturbance (LID) and phase modulation depth drift in the traditional PGC demodulation algorithm that affect the demodulation results. The acoustic pressure sensitivity test of a packaged DFB-FL acoustic sensor is carried out to evaluate the performances of the demodulation system, a flat acoustic pressure sensitivity and frequency response curve was achieved in the frequency range of 200 Hz~18 kHz, the wavelength-acoustic sensitivity was about -40.22 dB re. pm/Pa. The amplitude changes of demodulation signal with light intensity and modulation depth are also tested, and it shows that the stability of the demodulation system has been significantly improved.

An improved fundamental frequency mixing phase generated carrier demodulation algorithm was proposed.By introducing a direct current filter,the improved algorithm could overcome the limitation that the traditional fundamental frequency mixing phase generated carrier demodulation algorithm was only suitable for small-signal.The improved algorithm retained the useful components of the interference signal and reduced the sampling frequency of the system by introducing an anti-aliasing filter.The up-limit amplitude of the demodulated signal was maximized when the sampling frequency was fixed.And the hardware implementation scheme to realize the improved algorithm was presented.Simulations were carried on the Matlab platform and the digital signal processor simulation platform code composer studio prove the feasibility of the improved algorithm.

In this paper, total harmonic distortion (THD) of phase generated carrier demodulation algorithm by digital arctangent approach (PGC-DAT algorithm) is analyzed. THD due to the deviations of modulation depth and carrier phase delay is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The analytical expression of THD as the function of carrier modulation depth, signal amplitude, initial phase and deviations of modulation depth and carrier phase delay has been derived. According to our analysis, the maximum THD for different initial phases exists, which reaches the peak value when the signal amplitude is close to 1.2 rad. The best modulation depth to minimize the maximum THD is 2 rad. Finally, an experimental system is set up with the mean THD below -60 dB. The analytical expression of THD derived in this paper agrees well with the experimental results.

In recent years, phase demodulation methods for optical fiber vibration sensors (OFVS) have attracted more and more attention, aiming to accurately detect vibration signals. The principles of phase modulation and demodulation in OFVS are firstly introduced. Then, three classical phase demodulation methods are described, including phase generated carrier (PGC) demodulation method, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${3}\,\,\times \,\,{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> coupler demodulation method, and in-phase and quadrature (IQ) demodulation method. Furthermore, the state of art of phase demodulation methods in various OFVS are reviewed. As the results of analysis, different structures of OFVS need appropriate demodulation methods for vibration detection. The Fourier transform method, fringe counting method and PGC demodulation method have strong applicability for Fabry-Perot interference OFVS. The scalability of interferometers provides convenience for PGC demodulation method and <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${3}\,\,\times \,\,{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> coupler demodulation method in the OFVS with composite structure. PGC demodulation method, <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${3}\,\,\times \,\,{3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> coupler demodulation method and quadrature demodulation method are good choices for dynamic sensing in FBG-OFVS. The IQ demodulation method is a popular choice for phase sensitive optical time domain reflectometry at present. This paper provides a reference for the OFVS to realize vibration detection with appropriate phase demodulation method.

This paper presents a novel thermal tunable bulk-micromachined optical filter. The device has been achieved based on a Fabry-Perot interferometer employing a bulk silicon cavity and high-reflectivity coating (HRC). A dense boron doped silicon resistor has been used as the heater and the cantilever structure has been designed to provide a good thermal isolation. The tunable optical filter has been successfully fabricated using bulk micromachining technology. Tunability is realized by changing the refractive index of the bulk silicon cavity through heating resistor. The maximum wavelength tuning is about 17 nm with driving voltage less than 14 V. The filter linewidth was achieved a value of 0.29 nm and the Free Spectral Range (FSR) was 21.9 nm. The heating and cooling responding times are less than 50 ms.

Tunable fiber optic filter has extensive applications in telecommunications, spectroscopy, and fiber optic sensing. Many research attempts have been devoted to develop a filter with a wide tuning range, a fast tuning speed, a fine tuning resolution, and high reliability. Despite of the progress made so far, a tunable fiber optic filter that combines all these qualities is still a subject of intensive research. This thesis describes the design, fabrication and test results of a high performance tunable fiber optic filter. The filter is piezo-driven using a flexural hinge structure for displacement magnification and an axial strain of a fiber Bragg grating. Finite element analysis was used to design the mechanical structure to achieve the required displacement magnification and reaction force for grating compression. A passive thermal compensation design was implemented with two spacers of different coefficients of thermal expansion to compensate the thermal-induced wavelength drift. A feedback control system with a linear variable differential transformer was employed to control the displacement and to achieve the designed tuning accuracy. A tuning range of 13.7 nm, a maximum closed loop switching time of 17.3 ms, and a wavelength drift of 1.4 pm/C were achieved. The flexural-hinge structure, that offers noise-free motion, no need of lubricants and no wear, ensures its long-term reliability.

Hyperspectral imaging was originally developed for use in remote sensing applications. More recently, it has been applied to biological imaging systems, such as fluorescence microscopes. The ability to distinguish molecules based on spectral differences has been especially advantageous for identifying fluorophores in highly autofluorescent tissues. A key component of hyperspectral imaging systems is wavelength filtering. Each filtering technology used for hyperspectral imaging has corresponding advantages and disadvantages. Recently, a new optical filtering technology has been developed that uses multi-layered thin-film optical filters that can be rotated, with respect to incident light, to control the center wavelength of the pass-band. Compared to the majority of tunable filter technologies, these filters have superior optical performance including greater than 90% transmission, steep spectral edges and high out-of-band blocking. Hence, tunable thin-film optical filters present optical characteristics that may make them well-suited for many biological spectral imaging applications. An array of tunable thin-film filters was implemented on an inverted fluorescence microscope (TE 2000, Nikon Instruments) to cover the full visible wavelength range. Images of a previously published model, GFP-expressing endothelial cells in the lung, were acquired using a charge-coupled device camera (Rolera EM-C2, Q-Imaging). This model sample presents fluorescently-labeled cells in a highly autofluorescent environment. Linear unmixing of hyperspectral images indicates that thin-film tunable filters provide equivalent spectral discrimination to our previous acousto-optic tunable filter-based approach, with increased signal-to-noise characteristics. Hence, tunable multi-layered thin film optical filters may provide greatly improved spectral filtering characteristics and therefore enable wider acceptance of hyperspectral widefield microscopy.

The phase generated carrier (PGC) demodulation technique for phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (Ф-OTDR) has significant potential in applications involving distributed optical fiber sensing and imaging. An improved PGC demodulation algorithm for a Ф-OTDR combined with an unbalanced Michelson interferometer system is presented in this letter. This modified PGC technique uses the one output signal as a fundamental carrier frequency signal with mathematical transformations, and another output is the modulated signal, which enable the two signals to be output synchronously from the interferometer. Theoretical simulations and experiments demonstrate that the linear and nonlinear distortion caused by phase modulation depth and carrier phase delay are well suppressed by the proposed algorithm with high stability and low distortion. The signal-to-noise-and-distortion ratio of sensors using the proposed method in the same conditions achieve gains of 12.98 dB, 30.82 dB and 6.93 dB over PGC-Arctan, PGC-differential-and-cross-multiplying and PGC-single-path differential division method, respectively. Experimental verification shows that the proposed demodulation system can exactly recover the original signals of multiple vibration positions simultaneously, and the system employing the ameliorated PGC demodulation algorithm has the noise level of about 1.83 × 10−4 rad (√Hz)−1 and a large dynamic range of 65.72 dB @ 800 Hz, which provides a new choice for distributed optical fiber sensing technology.

A broad-temperature-range wavelength tracking system employing a thermistor monitoring circuit and a tunable optical filter is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. In this scheme, a thermistor monitoring circuit is utilized to acquire the real-time resistance values of a distributed feedback laser diode (DFB-LD). When the mapping relationship curve among thermistor resistance, temperature, and center wavelength of the DFB-LD is established, the drive voltage of the narrowband tunable optical filter is dynamically adjusted to regulate its filter window. Therefore, wavelength tracking is achieved by matching the filter window and the center wavelength of the DFB-LD. The experimental results show that the proposed system can achieve adaptive wavelength tracking within the operation band of 1539.4 nm to 1548.6 nm across a temperature range from −40 °C to 60 °C. The wavelength detection resolution and the minimum step of wavelength control are better than 0.79 pm and 0.1 nm, respectively. By exploiting the conversion characteristics between the thermistor and the center wavelength of the DFB-LD, this approach transforms laser wavelength detection into a low-cost, real-time electrical measurement, significantly enhancing transmission stability and reliability of laser sources in complex thermal environments.

In this paper we propose a novel, improved, phase generated carrier (PGC) demodulation algorithm based on the PGC-differential-cross-multiplying approach (PGC-DCM). The influence of phase modulation amplitude variation and light intensity disturbance (LID) on traditional PGC demodulation algorithms is analyzed theoretically and experimentally. An experimental system for remote no-contact microvibration measurement is set up to confirm the stability of the improved PGC algorithm with LID. In the experiment, when the LID with a frequency of 50 Hz and the depth of 0.3 is applied, the signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SINAD) of the improved PGC algorithm is 19 dB, higher than the SINAD of the PGC-DCM algorithm, which is 8.7 dB.

A low-finesse all-fiber sinusoidal phase modulation interferometer for displacement measurement

一种消除伴生调幅影响的PGC解调方法

Optical measurements are closely related to the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) of the laser, which can be improved using a tunable optical filter (TOF) to suppress frequency noise. For an external-cavity tunable laser with a tuning range larger than the TOF bandwidth, the wavelength at the center of the TOF passband must be varied based on the laser tuning. This study proposes a tunable-laser OSNR-enhancement method based on the Fabry-Pérot (FP) interferometer. The FP signal contains the wavelength information of the swept laser, which can be used to determine the real-time driving voltage of the TOF. Notably, the laser needs to be continuously tunable without mode hopping, and the free spectral range of the FP interferometer must be smaller than the TOF bandwidth.

Theoretical expression has been derived for polarization-mode dispersion with random-mode coupling in optical fiber by simple means. The square-root dependence of polarization-mode dispersion not only on a fiber length but on a mean-coupling length has been experimentally verified for the first time. This characterization became possible only by the use of highly birefringent polarization-maintaining fiber and introduction of fusion splices with desired coupling lengths.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Laser Doppler vibration measuring system has been widely used in many fields, in order to eliminate the phase fading, phase generated carrier (PGC) homodyne demodulation technology has been applied usually, and dual-optical-channel balanced detection technology has been used to suppress the intensity noise of the light source. However, theoretical analysis reveals that the intensity noise of the light source cannot be eliminate totally due to the modulation, which is still the main noise in the system. In this paper, we consider the influence of the intensity noise of the light source and the shot noise of the detectors. By numerical simulating, we analyze the origin of the noise, especially the influence of remnant intensity noise to signal-to-noise ratio of the system, and find the optimal parameters of the system.