Ultra-sensitivity, ultra-large dynamic all-fiber optical coherence domain polarimetry

Abstract

An all-fiber optical coherence domain polarimetry (OCDP) is presented, which can increase the detection sensitivity and dynamic range simultaneously. The noise generation mechanism of OCDP and its impact have been studied, and the suppression method of interference beat noise transferred from light source intensity noise is presented. Using polarization beam splitter (PBS) instead of polarization-maintaining coupler, this method completely separated transmission and polarization coupling light in white light interference by optimizing the structure of the optical path. Thus, we can not only increase the signal amplitude of polarization crosstalk, and decrease the system noise. An all-fiber OCDP system has been built, and the detecting sensitivity of polarization crosstalk can reach -98dB, meanwhile, the dynamic range can keep in 98dB. This method realizes the highest performance of the date OCDP technology, and provides an effective measurement and evaluation tools for high performance fiber optic devices and sensor system.