Gain Spectrum Engineering in Slope-Assisted Dynamic Brillouin Optical Time-Domain Analysis

Slope-assisted Brillouin optical time domain analysis (SA-BOTDA) is a fast and distributed sensing technique that interrogates the Brillouin gain spectrum (BGS) near the middle of the linear region of its slope, allowing the measurement of high frequency vibrations. However, environmentally-induced deviations of the interrogation point from the rather small linear region around the optimum frequency position, result in harmonic distortion and changes in the slope value, which determines the gain-to-frequency conversion factor. Engineering the BGS by adding a loss probe, we propose a novel and improved version of SA-BOTDA, having a significantly wider drift tolerance for the interrogation point. Here, using a 14 ns pump pulse and a judicious choice of the frequency of the loss probe, we demonstrate an engineered BGS having a 70% wider frequency range (as compared with the conventional BGS), where the interrogation point can drift without compromising either the prescribed level of harmonic distortion or the given slope tolerance, further benefiting the flexibility and usage of SA-BOTDA. © 1983-2012 IEEE.