Research on the fiber dispersion and compensation in large-scale high-resolution broadband frequency-modulated continuous wave laser measurement system

Abstract

The influence of a fiber dispersion calibration interferometer on the measurement results for a large-scale high-resolution broadband frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) measurement system was studied. A model was constructed to simulate the influences of fiber dispersion on the measurements when using a frequency sampling method that corrects the tuning nonlinearity. The results indicated that a broadband external cavity tunable laser, in comparison with a semiconductor laser, causes linear variations in the measurement results because of the effect of the fiber dispersion in the calibration interference path for large-scale high-resolution measurements, and these variations decreased the resolution of the measurements. A method that combines chirp slope calibration and phase compensation to reduce the effects of the fiber dispersion was proposed. A gauge block with a height difference of 200 μ m at a distance of 2.43 m was measured during the experiments. Before calibrating the fiber dispersion, the frequency spectrum showed false peaks, and it was difficult to distinguish the peaks of the targets. After compensating for the dispersion, the peaks of the targets could be clearly distinguished, and a height difference of 199.6 μ m was measured. Using this model and the method to compensate for the dispersion will provide a reference for large-scale high-resolution broadband FMCW laser measurements.