Reflective SOA fiber cavity adaptive laser source for measuring dynamic strains

Abstract

Smart sensors based on Optical fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are suitable for structural health monitoring of dynamic strains in civil, aerospace, and mechanical structures. In these structures, dynamic strains with high frequencies reveal acoustic emissions cracking or impact loading. It is necessary to find a practical tool for monitoring such structural damages. In this work, we explore an intelligent system based on a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)- FBG composed as a fiber cavity for measuring dynamic strain in intelligent structures. The ASE light emitted from a RSOA laser and reflected by a FBG is amplified in the fiber cavity and coupled out by a 90:10 coupler, which is demodulated by a low frequency compensated Michelson interferometer using a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller and is monitored via a photodetector. As the wavelength of the FBG shifts due to dynamic strain, the wavelength of the optical output from the laser cavity shifts accordingly, which is demodulated by the Michelson Interferometer. Because the RSOA has a quick transition time, the RSOA- FBG fiber cavity shows an ability of high frequency response to the FBG reflective spectrum shift, with frequency response extending to megahertz.