%0 Journal Article 
%A Domínguez López, Alejandro
%A López Gil, Alexia Inés
%A Martín López, Sonia
%A González Herráez, Miguel
%T Signal-to-Noise Ratio Improvement in BOTDA Using Balanced Detection
%D 2014
%@ 1041-1135
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/25137
%X Brillouin optical time domain analysis (BOTDA)
relies typically on the interaction among two counter-propagating
waves: 1) a pulsed pump wave and 2) a modulated probe
wave. The modulated probe wave has typically two sidebands,
located at ±νB with respect to the pump frequency. Conventional
systems detect the time-resolved gain/loss by detecting only the
upper/lower wavelength sideband. In this letter, we show that
BOTDA can strongly benefit from the use of balanced detection
among the two sidebands. In particular, the detected signal can be
doubled while the noise only grows by a factor of (2)1/2, leading
to a (2)1/2 signal-to noise ratio (SNR) increase. Moreover, any
common-mode noise in the probe signal path (e.g., master laser
noise, modulator drifts, and so forth) is eliminated, rendering the
system more robust. We validate the principle by experimental
results that highlight the benefits of the technique in terms of
the SNR.
%K Brillouin scattering
%K Distributed optic fiber sensor
%K Balanced detection
%K Temperature sensor
%K Ciencias tecnológicas
%K Electrónica
%K Technology
%K Electronics
%~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala