A Universal Phase Error Analysis for Optical Frequency Tuning Lasers Utilized in Fiber Sensing with OFDR

Abstract

As optical fiber sensing has attracted increasing attention due to its advantages such as high accuracy, low costs, and stability, its optical source judgment has become an attractive issue by which to characterize its performance. Optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR) has been demonstrated as a means of the fiber identification (ID) of optical fibers; however, the linearity of the optical frequency tuning rate determines both the spatial resolution and detection range. In this paper, the results from various simulations and experiments show that the phase error from the initial frequency and tuning rate can affect the performance of the OFDR system, which directs the future improvement direction of fiber sensing based on such technology.