Mode-walk-off interferometry for position-resolved optical fiber sensing

Abstract

Simultaneously sensing and resolving the position of measurands along an optical fiber enables numerous opportunities, especially for application in environments where massive sensor deployment is not feasible. Despite significant progress in techniques based on round-trip time-of-flight measurements, the need for bidirectional propagation imposes fundamental barriers to their deployment in fiber communication links containing non-reciprocal elements. In this work, we break this barrier by introducing a position-resolved sensing technique based on the interference of two weakly-coupled non-degenerate modes of an optical fiber, as they walk-off through each other. We use this mode-walk-off interferometry to experimentally measure and localize physical changes to the fiber under test (axial strain and temperature) without the typical requirement of round-trip time-of-flight measurements. The unidirectional propagation requirement of this method makes it compatible with fiber links incorporating non-reciprocal elements, uncovering a path for multiple sensing applications, including ultra-long range distributed sensing in amplified space-division-multiplexed telecommunication links.