Spectral properties of Rayleigh backscattered light from single-mode fibers caused by a modulated probe signal

The statistical properties of Rayleigh backscattering from single-mode fibers are investigated, taking into account the modulation and the coherence of the source light. The autocorrelation function and the power spectral density of the backscattered field and intensity are derived. To describe the noise due to Rayleigh backscattering in bidirectional systems, the spectrum of the interference of backscattered light with reflected source light is also calculated. The measurements confirm the theoretical results. It is shown that, if no optical isolator is used and the laser diode is exposed to Rayleigh backscattering, the interaction between laser and fiber depends strongly on the modulation of the light