Mohammad Belal

A distributed optical fibre dynamic strain sensor based on phase-OTDR

A distributed optical fibre sensor is introduced which is capable of quantifying multiple dynamic strain perturbations along 1 km of a sensing fibre simultaneously using a standard telecommunication single-mode optical fibre. The technique is based on measuring the phase between the Rayleigh scattered light from two sections of the fibre which define the gauge length. The phase is spatially determined along the entire length of the fibre with a single pulse. This allows multiple moving strain perturbation to be tracked and quantified along the entire length of the fibre. The demonstrated setup has a spatial resolution of 2 m with a frequency range of 500-5000 Hz. The minimum detectable strain perturbation of the sensor was measured to be 80 ne.

Optical fiber microwire current sensor

We demonstrate a compact optical fiber microwire current sensor based on the Faraday effect with gigahertz frequency of current sensing capabilities.

An interferometric current sensor based on optical fiber micro wires.

In this paper we demonstrate a compact current sensor using the optic fiber micro wire, based on the idea of interferometrically measuring the thermally induced optical phase shifts as a result of heat produced due to the flow of electric current over short transit lengths. A responsivity of 1.28 x 10(-4) rad/I(2) at 50 Hz of current signal has been shown, with capability of measuring alternating current signals up to 500 Hz.

Mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in suspended core tellurite microstructured optical fibers

We report the fabrication of a tellurite optical fiber with a suspended core design, formed on a 220-nm-wide filament of glass. The fiber was pumped at two different wavelengths (1500 and 2400 nm) using femtosecond pulses generated from an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in order to produce mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC). We observed that SC spectra extending to 3 μm were readily generated. To further optimize the design, detailed numerical study was performed, which revealed how the fiber structural characteristics dramatically influence the spectral broadening because of the changes in the dispersion profile and in turn, the interplay of nonlinear effects that give rise to SC generation. We found that an accurate control of the core shape can be employed to contain the generated SC spectra within well-defined spectral regions or to provide a broad extension of the continuum to beyond 4 μm.

A temperature-compensated high spatial resolution distributed strain sensor

We propose and demonstrate a scheme which utilizes the temperature dependence of spontaneous Raman scattering to provide temperature compensation for a high spatial resolution Brillouin frequency-based strain sensor.

Erbium-doped multi-element fiber amplifiers for space-division multiplexing operations

Erbium-doped multi-element fiber (MEF) amplifiers have been fabricated to simultaneously amplify multiple transmission channels. MEF devices comprise of multiple single-core fibers (elements) combined in a common coating, with each element working as a single fiber in isolation. MEFs containing 3-elements and 7-elements have been fabricated and characterized. Each element of the fabricated MEFs provides nearly 32 dB of gain with a noise figure of <5 dB for an input signal level of -23 dBm at 1530 nm. Different permutations of element pairs within the MEFs were checked for crosstalk and none was detected, confirming the simultaneous multi-channel amplification capabilities of MEFs.

Broadband telecom to mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a dispersion-engineered silicon germanium waveguide.

We demonstrate broadband supercontinuum generation (SCG) in a dispersion-engineered silicon-germanium waveguide. The 3 cm long waveguide is pumped by femtosecond pulses at 2.4 μm, and the generated supercontinuum extends from 1.45 to 2.79 μm (at the -30  dB point). The broadening is mainly driven by the generation of a dispersive wave in the 1.5-1.8 μm region and soliton fission. The SCG was modeled numerically, and excellent agreement with the experimental results was obtained.

Distributed dynamic large strain optical fiber sensor based on the detection of spontaneous Brillouin scattering

A Brillouin-based distributed optical fiber dynamic strain sensor is described which converts strain-induced Brillouin frequency shift into optical intensity variations by using an imbalanced Mach-Zhender interferometer. A 3×3 coupler is used at the output of this interferometer to permit differentiate and cross multiply demodulation. The demonstrated sensor is capable of probing dynamic strain disturbances over 2 km of sensing length every 0.5 s up to a strain of 10 mε with an accuracy of ±50 με and spatial resolution of 1.3 m.

Compact optical microfiber phase modulator.

A compact optical microfiber phase modulator with MHz bandwidth is presented. A micrometer-diameter microfiber is wound on a millimeter-diameter piezoelectric ceramic rod with two electrodes. When a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric ceramic, the rod is strained, leading to a phase change along the microfiber; because of the small size, the optical microfiber phase modulator can have as high as a few MHz bandwidth response.

Experimental Examination of the Variation of the Spontaneous Brillouin Power and Frequency Coefficients Under the Combined Influence of Temperature and Strain

Interpretation of Brillouin-scattering-based distributed strain and temperature measurements so far has been based on the premise that the Brillouin coefficients used to describe the influence of strain or temperature remain constant under circumstances where a sensing fiber is subjected to the combined influence of both temperature and strain. We examine the validity of these assumptions by experimentally evaluating the Brillouin coefficients under combined temperature and strain influence. In order to illustrate the importance of correcting the Brillouin coefficients for estimation of true values of applied strain and change in temperature, arbitrarily chosen values of change in frequency and percentage change in intensity are used to calculate the values of applied strain and change in temperature by using both corrected and uncorrected Brillouin coefficients.