Track Deflection Monitoring for Railway Construction Based on Dynamic Brillouin Optical Time-Domain Reflectometry.

Real-time online monitoring of track deformation during railway construction is crucial for ensuring the safe operation of trains. However, existing monitoring technologies struggle to effectively monitor both static and dynamic events, often resulting in high false alarm rates. This paper presents a monitoring technology for track deformation during railway construction based on dynamic Brillouin optical time-domain reflectometry (Dy-BOTDR), which effectively meets requirements in the monitoring of both static and dynamic events of track deformation.

In vivo endoscopic ultrasound imaging with a rotational-scanning, all-optical ultrasound probe.

All-optical ultrasound manipulates ultrasound waves based on laser and photonics technologies, providing an alternative approach for pulse-echo ultrasound imaging. However, its endoscopic imaging capability is limited ex vivo by the multifiber connection between the endoscopic probe and the console. Here, we report on all-optical ultrasound for in vivo endoscopic imaging using a rotational-scanning probe that relies on a small laser sensor to detect echo ultrasound waves.

Coded phase-sensitive OTDR with delayed polarization multiplexing for a WFBG array.

Polarization fading degrades the performance of phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry (φ-OTDR) seriously and has to be suppressed. A novel scheme is proposed in this paper to combat polarization fading, which features a quite simple transceiver structure by exploiting both polarization diversity through delayed polarization multiplexing and the aperiodic autocorrelation of pseudorandom binary sequence. The components of Jones matrix of a sensing fiber are then shown at those four peaks of aperiodic autocorrelation and can be obtained directly without complicated computation to give a polarization independent phase variation due to vibration.

High spatiotemporal resolution optoacoustic sensing with photothermally induced acoustic vibrations in optical fibres.

Optoacoustic vibrations in optical fibres have enabled spatially resolved sensing, but the weak electrostrictive force hinders their application. Here, we introduce photothermally induced acoustic vibrations (PTAVs) to realize high-performance fibre-based optoacoustic sensing. Strong acoustic vibrations with a wide range of axial wavenumbers k are photothermally actuated by using a focused pulsed laser.

Miniature all-fiber axicon probe with extended Bessel focus for optical coherence tomography.

The trade-off between lateral resolution and depth of focus (DOF) severely limits the capability of endoscopic optical coherence tomography (OCT) for high-resolution deep-tissue imaging. To address this issue, we developed a novel miniature all-fiber axicon OCT probe by inserting a segment of gradient-index (GRIN) fiber between a piece of single-mode fiber (SMF) and an axicon polished from a no-core fiber. The GRIN lens served as a beam expander extending the probe DOF by 5.

Response of an erbium-doped dual-polarization fiber laser to a perpendicular gradient magnetic field.

Direct interaction between fiber lasers and a magnetic field is useful but seldom explored because fiber is known as magnetic field insensitive. In this Letter, the response of an erbium-doped dual-polarization fiber laser to a perpendicular gradient magnetic field is investigated. Measured as beat note frequency change, significant response greater than 500 MHz has been observed that is within theoretical expectation, and translates to a birefringence change of about 4×10 and a potentially very high response to a magnetic field of about 12.

Fiber-Laser-Based Ultrasound Sensor for Photoacoustic Imaging.

Photoacoustic imaging, especially for intravascular and endoscopic applications, requires ultrasound probes with miniature size and high sensitivity. In this paper, we present a new photoacoustic sensor based on a small-sized fiber laser. Incident ultrasound waves exert pressures on the optical fiber laser and induce harmonic vibrations of the fiber, which is detected by the frequency shift of the beating signal between the two orthogonal polarization modes in the fiber laser.

Highly sensitive fiber laser ultrasound hydrophones for sensing and imaging applications: publisher's note.

This note corrects the range of acoustic frequencies mentioned in the opening paragraph of Opt. Lett.41, 4530 (2016)OPLEDP0146-959210.

Highly sensitive fiber laser ultrasound hydrophones for sensing and imaging applications.

We have developed highly sensitive photonic ultrasound hydrophones based on polymer-packaged dual-polarization-mode fiber lasers. The incident ultrasound wave is scattered by the polymer cylinder due to the difference in elastic property. The scattered wave can drive harmonic vibration of the cylinder and result in optical response in terms of beat-frequency variation of the laser output.

Silk fibroin diaphragm-based fiber-tip Fabry-Perot pressure sensor.

A miniature fiber-optic Fabry-Perot is built on the tip of a single mode fiber with a thin silk fibroin film as the diaphragm for pressure measurement. The silk fibroin film is regenerated from aqueous silk fibroin solution obtained by an environmentally benign fabrication process, which exhibits excellent optical and physicochemical properties, such as transparency in visible and near infrared region, membrane-forming ability, good adhesion, and high mechanical strength. The resulted Fabry-Perot pressure sensor is therefore highly biocompatible and shows good airtightness with a response of 12.

Implementation of a widely tunable microwave signal generator based on dual-polarization fiber grating laser.

In this paper, we demonstrate the implementation of a widely tunable microwave signal generator based on a dual-polarization fiber grating laser. The laser contains two strong, wavelength-matched Bragg gratings photoinscribed in an Er-doped fiber and emits two polarization modes when pumped with a 980 nm laser diode. By beating the two modes, a microwave signal with a signal-to-noise ratio over 60 dB can be obtained.

Stabilization of microwave signal generated by a dual-polarization DBR fiber laser via optical feedback.

Microwave signals can be generated by beating the two orthogonal polarization modes from a dual-frequency fiber grating laser. In this paper, we present that the phase noise of the microwave signal can be significantly reduced via optical feedback by cascading an external cavity. This is achieved as a result of the bandwidth narrowing of each polarization laser mode when introducing phase-matched feedbacks into the laser cavity.

Sensitivity enhancement of Faraday effect based heterodyning fiber laser magnetic field sensor by lowering linear birefringence.

In this paper, we demonstrate that the sensitivity of Faraday effect based heterodyning fiber laser sensors for magnetic field can be effectively enhanced by lowering the intrinsic linear birefringence inside the fiber laser cavity. Well explained by theoretical analysis and confirmed by birefringence tuning through transversal force, it shows that the sensitivity to magnetic field intensity is inversely proportional to the linear birefringence. A CO(2)-laser treatment is therefore proposed to tune the intra-cavity linear birefringence.

Ampere force based magnetic field sensor using dual-polarization fiber laser.

A magnetic field sensor is proposed by placing a dual-polarization fiber grating laser under a copper wire. With a perpendicular magnetic field applied, an electrical current flowing through the copper wire can generate Ampere force to squeeze the fiber grating laser, resulting in the birefringence change inside the laser cavity and hence the change of the beat note frequency. When an alternating current is injected into the copper wire, the magnetic field induced beat note frequency change can be discriminated from environment disturbances.

Faraday-rotation-based miniature magnetic field sensor using polarimetric heterodyning fiber grating laser.

A polarimetric heterodyning fiber grating laser is proposed to sense a magnetic field. When a magnetic field is parallel to the fiber grating laser, a circular birefringence is induced into the laser cavity. An elliptical birefringence results due to the circular birefringence and the intrinsic linear birefringence of the laser cavity.

Potential for simultaneous strain and temperature sensing based on Brillouin scattering in an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber.

We identify the Brillouin scattering spectrum in both the core and the cladding of an all-solid photonic bandgap fiber for the first time to our knowledge. A multipeak Brillouin spectrum with several frequency shifts and particular linewidths is investigated and related to the structural properties accordingly. Because of the different frequency dependences on the surroundings in the core and the cladding, the proposed structure exhibits potential for use as simultaneous temperature and strain sensors.

Multi-octave tunable RF signal generation based on a dual-polarization fiber grating laser.

A simple technique has been proposed and demonstrated to generate radio-frequency (RF) signal based on a fiber grating laser with multi-octave tunablity. The laser is fabricated by inscribing a wavelength-matched Bragg grating pair in a short section of low-birefringence Er/Yb co-doped fiber. A RF signal can be obtained by beating the two-polarization mode output with its frequency determined by the birefringence within the cavity.

CD-insensitive PMD monitoring based on RF power measurement.

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a chromatic dispersion (CD)-insensitive first-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) monitoring method based on radio-frequency (RF) power measurement. In high-speed (>10-GSym/s) transmission systems, a narrowband fiber Bragg grating (FBG) notch filter filters out the optical components at 10GHz away from the carrier. After square-law detection, the 10-GHz RF tone changes with PMD and is insensitive to CD, which can be used as a PMD monitoring signal.

Linear photonic radio frequency phase shifter using a differential-group-delay element and an optical phase modulator.

We demonstrate a stable and linear photonic radio frequency (RF) phase shifter based on a differential-group-delay element and the polarization sensitive effect of an optical phase modulator. The phase shift can be tuned continuously over 360 degrees for RF signals over 40GHz with an electrical control voltage from -7.5 to +7.

Signed chromatic dispersion monitoring of 100Gbit/s CS-RZ DQPSK signal by evaluating the asymmetry ratio of delay tap sampling.

In this paper, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrated the residual chromatic dispersion (CD) monitoring of 100-Gbit/s carrier suppress return-to-zero differential quadrature phase shift keying (CS-RZ DQPSK) signals by evaluating the asymmetry ratio of delay tap asynchronous sampling. This scheme can easily differentiate the positive and negative residual CD of the fiber link. The resolution of this scheme is better than 8 ps/nm and the measurable range is around +/- 24 ps/nm for 100 Gbit/s CS-RZ DQPSK signals.