140 km Brillouin optical time domain reflectometry based on single-photon detector

Abstract

Extending the range of distributed fiber sensors is one of the major challenges in the development of offshore wind turbines in order to monitor the transmitted electrical power inside the cables. Here we report a novel technique allowing to monitor the fiber up to 140 km, with a spatial resolution of 20 m in single-ended. Our method relies on the Brillouin anti-Stokes backscattering measurements that directly depend on the temperature along the optical fiber. The actual commercial devices have a range of 75 km. As a consequence, long infrastructures can't be monitored in single-ended. Here the proposed method allows us to monitor the temperature without the need for an amplification module.