Stimulated Brillouin scattering in graded index multimode optical fiber by excitation of the fundamental mode only

Abstract

We investigate the suitability of silica graded index multimode fibers (MMF) for distributed Brillouin sensing in structural health monitoring, where the measurement range is limited by small bendings that appear during the integration process of the sensing fibers into the structures. For the investigation of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in MMF, we use an MMF connected on both ends to the SMF measurement setup by fusion splices to ensure that only the fundamental mode is transmitted. The SBS spectra in MMF are recorded using a 1319 nm single frequency (line width 5 kHz) laser. Results found for standard singlemode fibers and the fundamental mode in multimode silica optical fibers are compared. We present the gain spectra showing the dependence of frequency shift, attenuation and modal noise to both temperature and strain. The dependence of the attenuation due to bending is shown. Finally, the perspective of the excitation of SBS in polymer optical fibers is discussed against the background of our research on SBS in MMF.