Femtosecond Laser Structuring of Polymer Optical Fibers for Backscatter Sensing

Author

Liehr, S. ; Burgmeier, J. ; Krebber, K. ; Schade, Wolfgang

Author_Institution

Div. 8.6 “Opt. & Fibre Opt. Methods”, BAM Fed. Inst. for Mater. Res. & Testing, Berlin, Germany

Volume

31

Issue

9

fYear

2013

fDate

1-May-13

Firstpage

1418

Lastpage

1425

Abstract

Focused femtosecond laser pulses are used to create scattering damage in the core of polymer optical fibers (POF). The resulting structures are investigated regarding morphology by light microscopy and backscattered intensity using optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR). Quasi-distributed optical fiber sensing is proposed by evaluating backscatter changes at the inscribed scatter centers. Application examples for quasi-distributed measurement of fiber bends and temperature are demonstrated.

Keywords

fibre optic sensors; high-speed optical techniques; optical polymers; time-domain reflectometry; backscatter sensing; backscattered intensity; femtosecond laser structuring; fiber bends; fiber temperature; focused femtosecond laser pulses; inscribed scatter centers; light microscopy; morphology; optical time domain reflectometry; polymer optical fibers; quasidistributed measurement; quasidistributed optical fiber sensing; scattering damage; Backscatter; Fiber lasers; Materials; Optical fiber dispersion; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fibers; Femtosecond laser; micromachining; optical fiber sensors; polymer; polymer optical fiber;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2013.2250483

Filename

6472250