Optical Frequency Sweep Research Articles

Simultaneous optical and RF linear frequency sweep generation using a Fourier domain mode-locked OEO with carrier-suppressed single sideband modulation

Simultaneous optical and RF linear frequency sweep generation using a Fourier domain mode-locked OEO with carrier-suppressed single sideband modulation

Ultra-linear broadband optical frequency sweep for a long-range and centimeter-spatial-resolution OFDR.

We demonstrated a long-range and centimeter-spatial-resolution optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) system based on an ultra-linear broadband optical frequency sweep. The high nonlinear sweeping effect of the distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser was suppressed by a pre-distortion method, ensuring that the injection-locking process remained stable during fast tuning over a large span. An optical linear frequency sweep (LFS) with a sweep range and sweep rate of up to 60 GHz and 15 THz/s, respectively, was ultimately obtained by optimizing the injection-locking system. The high performance OFDR based on the proposed LFS achieved a sampling spatial resolution of 1.71 mm. Furthermore, distributed strain sensing was implemented with high-spatial resolutions of about 5 cm and 7 cm in the measurement range over 1 km and 2 km, respectively.

Sine-Cosine Techniques for Detecting Fast Optical Frequency Variations With Ultra-High Resolution

We introduce the concept of sine-cosine optical frequency detection (OFD) for measuring fast optical frequency variations with the ultra-high spectral resolution for applications requiring rapidly tunable or low frequency-jitter lasers, including coherent detection based distributed sensing and communication systems and tunable diode laser spectroscopy (TDLS) systems, for which conventional spectral measurement techniques cannot meet the speed and spectral resolution requirements. The concept relies on representing the frequency-dependent differential phase of the laser light passing through two different optical paths as sine and cosine functions to calculate the optical frequency, similar to the sine-cosine encoder concept commonly used for obtaining the rotation information of a motor, which can simultaneously achieve both high spectral resolution and wide frequency range without mutual constraints. We present multiple schemes, some are seemingly very different, for implementing the concept and demonstrate that all frequency-related parameters of a tunable light source, including frequency tuning rate, nonlinearity, ripple, range, duty cycle, repeatability, and power swing can be precisely characterized. In addition, the frequency jitter of a fixed narrow line-width laser can also be accurately measured. Ultra-fast optical frequency sweep with a rate in excess of 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7</sup> nm/s and a resolution down to MHz is demonstrated with a differential delay of only 0.8 mm, suggesting that the concept is feasible to be implemented with photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Our work is attractive for applications such as coherent distributed sensing (OCT, OFDR and FMCW lidar), coherent detection, FBG sensing interrogation and TDLS, especially considering that some schemes can be integrated on PIC chips.

Simultaneous distance and vibration mapping of FMCW-LiDAR with akinetic external cavity diode laser

In this study, the simultaneous distance and vibration mapping of frequency-modulated continuous-wave light detection and ranging (FMCW-LiDAR) is performed using an electro-optical external cavity diode laser (ECDL). Owing to the akinetic operation regime of the ECDL, a uniform (R2 = 1.0000) interference signal can be generated over a bandwidth of 1 GHz at an optical frequency sweep rate of 10 kHz without any postprocessing or system for linearization. Furthermore, the proposed ECDL exhibits a high optical frequency sweep rate of 200 kHz with a considerable linearity of R2 = 0.99975. Based on a point sensing experiment using the FMCW-LiDAR system, three measurands, namely, distance, vibration frequency, and vibration velocity change, are demonstrated with a highly linear relationship between the beat frequency and amplitude of each individual parameter. Furthermore, temporal variations in multiple targets with rapidly frequency-varying vibrations, such as those occurring in music or voice sounds, can be successfully acquired by tracking the temporal change in the beat frequency of each target. Moreover, three-dimensional (3D) mapping of distance, vibration frequency, and vibration velocity change is simultaneously implemented in the same 3D space. The results show that the proposed FMCW-LiDAR system can be used for the 3D visualized display of various measurands within the same space frame.

A Novel System for Quasi-Continuous THz Signal Transmission and Reception.

This paper presents a novel system for generating and receiving quasi-continuous (QC) TeraHertz (THz) waves. A system design and theoretical foundation for QC-THz signal generation are presented. The proposed QC-THz system consists of commercially available photo-conductive antennas used for transmission and reception of THz waves and a custom-designed QC optical signal generator, which is based on a fast optical frequency sweep of a single telecom distributed-feedback laser diode and unbalanced optical fiber Michelson interferometer used for a high-frequency modulation. The theoretical model for the proposed system is presented and experimentally evaluated. The experimental results were compared to the state-of-the-art continuous-wave THz system. The comparison between the continuous-wave THz system and the proposed QC-THz system showed the ability to transmit and receive QC-THz waves up to 300 GHz. The upper-frequency limit is bounded by the length of the used Michelson interferometer. The presented design of THz signal generation has a potential for industrial application because it is cost-efficient and can be built using commercially available components.

High-Resolution and Large-Dynamic-Range π-Phase-Shifted FBG Sensor by a Current Modulated Diode Laser

We present a high-resolution and large dynamic range π-phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (π-PSFBG) temperature sensor. A current modulated laser diode with a linearized optical frequency sweep is used to interrogate the sensor. The sensor is comprised of a π-PSFBG sensing head and an HCN gas cell. The gas cell functions as an absolute frequency reference to compensate for the laser frequency drift. The reflection spectrum is sent to a lock-in amplifier to generate the error signal, proportional to the first order derivative of the spectrum. The center frequency difference that carries sensing information between the π-PSFBG and HCN gas cell is calculated by cross-correlation of their error signals. A sinusoidal modulation enables to move the data processing from low-frequency stage to high-frequency stage, by phase-sensitive detection and low-pass filtering, the interferences caused by laser intensity noises and electronic devices’ noises are significantly reduced. In the experiment, a frequency resolution of 3.696 MHz with a 55 GHz mode-hop-free tuning range, is achieved, corresponding to a temperature resolution of 2.6 mK with a dynamic range from 5 to 40 °C.

Precise Optical Modulation and Its Application to Optoelectronic Device Measurement

Optoelectronic devices which play important roles in high-speed optical fiber networks can offer effective measurement methods for optoelectronic devices including optical modulators and photodetectors. Precise optical signal modulation is required for measurement applications. This paper focuses on high-speed and precise optical modulation devices and their application to device measurement. Optical modulators using electro-optic effect offers precise control of lightwaves for wideband signals. As examples, this paper describes frequency response measurement of photodetectors using high-precision amplitude modulation and wavelength domain measurement of optical filters using fast optical frequency sweep. Precise and high-speed modulation can be achieved by active trimming which compensates device structure imbalance due to fabrication error, where preciseness can be described by on-off extinction ratio. A Mach-Zehnder modulator with sub Mach-Zehnder interferometors can offer high extinction-ratio optical intensity modulation, which can be used for precise optoelectronic frequency response measurement. Precise modulation would be also useful for multi-level modulation schemes. To investigate impact of finite extinction ratio on optical modulation, duobinary modulation with small signal operation was demonstrated. For optical frequency domain analysis, single sideband modulation, which shifts optical frequency, can be used for generation of stimulus signals. Rapid measurement of optical filters was performed by using an optical sweeper consisting of an integrated Mach-Zehnder modulator for optical frequency control and an arbitrary waveform generator for generation of a source frequency chirp signal.

Optical linear frequency sweep based on a mode-spacing swept comb and multi-loop phase-locking for FMCW interferometry.

We report on the generation of a highly coherent broadband optical linear frequency sweep (LFS) using mode-spacing swept comb and multi-loop composite optical phase-locked loop (OPLL). We exploit a specially designed agile opto-electronic frequency comb as a sweeping reference, whose mode-spacing is capable of arbitrary frequency sweep while preserving a stable phase and power distribution per mode. By locking a continuous-wave (CW) laser to any of its modes using composite OPLL with a large loop bandwidth, it allows the extraction of the optical LFS at high-order modes in a coherent manner with a multiplied sweep range and rate. With such capability, only intermediate frequency LFS with smaller bandwidth is required to yield a broadband LFS while inheriting the coherence and precision from the comb. We achieve optical LFS of 60 GHz at 6 THz/s sweep rate with a nine-folded sweep bandwidth of the driving signal. Fourier transform-limited spatial resolution at more than 80 times of the intrinsic coherence length of the CW laser is demonstrated in an OFMCW interferometry, verifying the high coherence with more than 4 orders of magnitude improvement in spatial resolution. The characteristics in terms of agility, coherence, and precision are discussed together with the potential limitations. The proposed method is capable of generating arbitrary frequency-modulated optical waveforms with a multiplied bandwidth, showing attractive potential in future metrology applications.

Auxiliary interferometer in an optoelectronic swept-frequency laser and its application to the measurement of the group refractive index.

An optoelectronic swept-frequency laser (SFL) is an optoelectronic feedback system that includes an auxiliary interferometer that can exert precise control over the optical frequency sweep. The arm-length difference (ALD) of the auxiliary interferometer directly affects the performance of the whole system. We established a theoretical model to choose the optimal ALD of an auxiliary interferometer in an optoelectronic SFL system using a frequency-modulated continuous-wave reflectometry experimental setup. The experimental results indicated that, based on our system, the optimal ALD was 7 m, which agreed with the theoretical analysis. As an example application, we implemented the proposed system for measurement of the group refractive index of a glass sample. A minimum measurement error of 0.12% was obtained with the ALD of 7 m.

A Fiber-Optic Gas Sensor and Method for the Measurement of Refractive Index Dispersion in NIR.

This paper presents a method for gas concentration determination based on the measurement of the refractive index dispersion of a gas near the gas resonance in the near-infrared region (NIR). The gas refractive index dispersion line shape is reconstructed from the variation in the spectral interference fringes’ periods, which are generated by a low-finesse Fabry-Perot interferometer during the DFB diode’s linear-over-time optical frequency sweep around the gas resonance frequency. The entire sensing system was modeled and then verified experimentally, for an example of a low concentration methane-air mixture. We demonstrate experimentally a refractive index dispersion measurement resolution of 2 × 10−9 refractive index units (RIU), which corresponds to a change in methane concentration in air of 0.04 vol% at the resonant frequency of 181.285 THz (1653.7 nm). The experimental and modeling results show an excellent agreement. The presented system utilizes a very simple optical design and has good potential for the realization of cost-efficient gas sensors that can be operated remotely through standard telecom optical fibers.

Nonlinearity-compensation-free optical frequency domain reflectometry based on electrically-controlled optical frequency sweep

A nonlinearity-compensation-free optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) scheme is proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on the electrically-controlled optical frequency sweep. In the proposed scheme, the linear frequency sweep light is generated by propagating an ultra-narrow-linewidth continuous-wave (CW) light through an electro-optic frequency shifter which consists of a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DPMZM) and an electronic 90° hybrid, where the electro-optic frequency shifter is driven by a linear frequency modulated signal generated by a direct digital synthesizer (DDS). Experimental results show that the spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the proposed OFDR scheme without the nonlinear phase compensation are comparable to those of OFDR employing a commercial tunable laser source (TLS), an auxiliary interferometer, and a software-based nonlinear phase compensation method. The proposed OFDR scheme is helpful to reduce the complexity of the optical structure and eliminate the difficulty of developing the nonlinear phase compensation algorithm.

Three-Dimensional Object Profiling Using Highly Accurate FMCW Optical Ranging System

We have developed three-dimensional object profiling system using a highly accurate frequency-modulated continuous-wave optical ranging system. A DFB laser and a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) are used as the laser source and the optical frequency is swept by the injection current modulation with a symmetric triangular wave. The influence of nonlinearity in the optical frequency sweep is canceled by utilizing $k$ -sampling technique. Since the optical frequency sweep range of a VCSEL is larger than that of a DFB laser, high spatial resolution and high ranging accuracy are achieved by using a VCSEL. The spatial resolution evaluated by the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) is 460 $\mu$ m and the standard deviation of the ranging accuracy is $\sigma = \text{2.7} \, \mu$ m when a VCSEL is used as the frequency-swept laser source, and the FWHM is 2.3 mm and $\sigma = 14.8 \, \mu$ m when a DFB laser is used as the frequency-swept laser source. Accordingly, fine and clear object profiling of a coin and a printed circuit board is achieved by using a VCSEL as the frequency-swept laser source. Finally, we speed up the measurement time by increasing the repetition frequency of the injection current modulation and optimizing timing of the data acquisition, the galvano mirror scan and the fast Fourier transform analysis by taking account of the transient response of the galvano mirror, and the fastest measurement time of 22.6 s is achieved for $201 \times 201$ measurement points, which is four times faster than our previous results. We also discuss the effect of moving average filtering and median filtering to improve profiling quality.

Phase-Dispersion Spectroscopy With High Spectral Resolution Using a Wideband Ultra-Linearly Swept Optical Source

We propose a phase-dispersion spectroscopy with high spectral resolution by developing a wideband ultra-linearly swept optical source (ULSOS). Highly precise optical frequency sweeping is achieved by externally modulating a narrow-linewidth fiber laser with a linearly swept radio-frequency signal. By using the injection-locking technique and high-order four-wave-mixing process, the sweeping span is enlarged to be 98 GHz, while the sweeping nonlinear error is as low as 136 kHz. Benefiting from the high-performance of the ULSOS, a spectrometer with an ultrahigh spectral resolution (136 kHz, determined by the sweeping nonlinear error of the ULSOS) is developed. Besides, an unbalanced Mach–Zehnder interferometer is used in the system with sample under test (SUT) incorporated inside it, and a phase extraction algorithm is employed to characterize the phase-dispersion features of the SUT. Moreover, a sweeping nonlinearity compensation technique is utilized to remove the noise in the measured transmission phase caused by the sweeping nonlinear error of the ULSOS. As a proof of the concept, the transmission intensity and phase spectra of HCN gas and fiber resonators with MHz-level bandwidth are characterized. The proposed technique opens a new possibility for spectroscopy with sub-MHz spectral resolution and the capability of dispersion measurement, without the usage of costly mode-locked laser.

Dynamic absolute distance measurement by frequency sweeping interferometry based Doppler beat frequency tracking model

Abstract We propose a frequency-sweeping interferometry (FSI) with single external cavity diode laser that can be used to measure the absolute distances of a dynamic target. Generally, the FSI-Doppler effect induced by target drift restricts the measurement accuracy severely, but the Doppler effect can also be used to measure the actual movement during optical frequency sweeps. Thus, a mathematical model of the Doppler effect in FSI is presented and a novel FSI method based on Doppler beat frequency tracking model is proposed to realize the absolute distance measurement of a dynamic target. The method was verified successfully by measuring vibrating targets of 50 ∼ 5000 Hz at 38 mm in the laboratory.

High-accuracy range-sensing system based on FMCW using low-cost VCSEL

Long-range shape measurement with high accuracy is needed for precision manufacturing of large-scale parts such as turbines, compressors, and trains. We have developed a high-accuracy ranging system based on frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) technology. Our system has two unique features. First, it achieves high-accuracy range measurement by directly modulating a low-cost vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) at high sweep rates. The nonlinearity of the optical frequency sweep is compensated for by resampling through a reference interferometer. Second, an optical fiber with multiple fiber Bragg grating (FBG) structures is used for distance calibration. Ranging accuracy better than 10 μm is achieved at 2 m distance. Three-dimensional (3D) imaging of 10-cubic-meter volume has been obtained by combining the FMCW ranging with a galvanometer scanner.

Frequency-scanning interferometry using a time-varying Kalman filter for dynamic tracking measurements

Frequency scanning interferometry (FSI) with a single external cavity diode laser (ECDL) and time-invariant Kalman filtering is an effective technique for measuring the distance of a dynamic target. However, due to the hysteresis of the piezoelectric ceramic transducer (PZT) actuator in the ECDL, the optical frequency sweeps of the ECDL exhibit different behaviors, depending on whether the frequency is increasing or decreasing. Consequently, the model parameters of Kalman filter appear time varying in each iteration, which produces state estimation errors with time-invariant filtering. To address this, in this paper, a time-varying Kalman filter is proposed to model the instantaneous movement of a target relative to the different optical frequency tuning durations of the ECDL. The combination of the FSI method with the time-varying Kalman filter was theoretically analyzed, and the simulation and experimental results show the proposed method greatly improves the performance of dynamic FSI measurements.

Measurement of frequency sweep nonlinearity using atomic absorption spectroscopy

A novel scheme to determine frequency sweep nonlinearity using atomic saturated absorption spectroscopy is proposed and demonstrated. The frequency modulation rate is determined by directly measuring the interference fringe number and the frequency gap between two atomic transition peaks of rubidium atom. An experimental setup is established, and test results show that the frequency sweep nonlinearity is ∼10%, with an average frequency modulation rate of ∼1.12 THz/s. Moreover, the absolute optical frequency and optical path difference between two laser beams are simultaneously determined with this method. This low-cost technique can be used for optical frequency sweep nonlinearity correction and real-time frequency monitor.

Digitally controlled chirped pulse laser for sub-terahertz-range fiber structure interrogation.

This Letter reports a sweep velocity-locked laser pulse generator controlled using a digital phase-locked loop (DPLL) circuit. This design is used for the interrogation of sub-terahertz-range fiber structures for sensing applications that require real-time data collection with millimeter-level spatial resolution. A distributed feedback laser was employed to generate chirped laser pulses via injection current modulation. A DPLL circuit was developed to lock the optical frequency sweep velocity. A high-quality linearly chirped laser pulse with a frequency excursion of 117.69GHz at an optical communication band was demonstrated. The system was further adopted to interrogate a continuously distributed sub-terahertz-range fiber structure (sub-THz-fs) for sensing applications. A strain test was conducted in which the sub-THz-fs showed a linear response to longitudinal strain change with predicted sensitivity. Additionally, temperature testing was conducted in which a heat source was used to generate a temperature distribution along the fiber structure to demonstrate its distributed sensing capability. A Gaussian temperature profile was measured using the described system and tracked in real time, as the heat source was moved.

FMCW法を用いた距離計測の精度向上に関する研究

FMCW (Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave) method has been used for long distance measurement. However, nonlinearity of optical frequency sweep of LD (Laser Diode) degrades the measurement accuracy. In this paper, first, the influence of nonlinearity of optical frequency sweep in distance measurement is defined by formulation. Second, the nonlinear sweep behavior is analyzed by using Hilbert transformation and the nonlinearity is reduced by making the LD current sweep nonlinear. The resultant performance of distance measurement is evaluated by comparing with a laser interferometer. The experimental result shows that it is possible to measure 1.8m distance with smaller than 10μm accuracy.

Improving the Spatial Resolution of an OFDR Based on Recirculating Frequency Shifter

We demonstrate a novel method for obtaining high spatial resolution optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) utilizing recirculating frequency shifter for broadening the optical frequency sweeping. Twelve times broadened optical frequency sweeping is achieved. We obtain 0.97 cm spatial resolution over 710-m measurement range with modulation frequency sweeping span of 882 MHz. Such a spatial resolution corresponds to a frequency sweeping span of 10.31 GHz. The experimental results indicate that the measurement range can be extended to 10 km, based on the proposed method.