Precise linearization of broadband frequency chirp for coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry

Optical frequency domain reflectometry is a suitable and promising measurement technique for optical network components characterization; however its performance is severely limited by sweep nonlinearity of the laser chirp. We demonstrate precise linearization of broadband optical frequency chirp using optoelectronic feedback loop. The sweep rate and the laser chirp shape is locked to and determined by the frequency of a reference electronic signal, an agile, high coherence swept-frequency semiconductor laser source with a bandwidth of 66GHz in 100ms is achieved. The laser source is applied to a coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry; a transform-limited spatial resolution of 1.5mm at a distance of 200 meters is demonstrated.