Analysis and suppression of nonreciprocal phase shift error of the optical voltage sensor based on the converse piezoelectric effect

Abstract

Abstract In the reflected all-optical voltage sensor (RAOVS) based on the converse piezoelectric effect, the influence of ambient temperature on the system output cannot be ignored when the length of sensing fiber and compensating fiber is asymmetric. In this study, the nonreciprocal error model of the RAOVS due to the asymmetric fiber length is originally established, according to the polarization optics theory. Then, the influence of temperature fluctuation and asymmetric fiber length on the output error is investigated with the condition of different voltage levels. Finally, a method for suppressing the nonreciprocal error is presented from the sensing fiber performance. Results show that the increase of nonreciprocal phase shift is proportional to the asymmetric fiber length and it is hardly avoided in the assembly process. And the magnitude of nonreciprocal error is influenced by ambient temperature fluctuation. Interestingly, the nonreciprocal error can be reduced by ~75 times with employing polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-PCF) as sensing fiber. This study can provide a theoretical basis for suppressing the nonreciprocal phase shift error of RAOVS in practically.