Performance improvement of a self-heterodyne detection BOTDR system employing broad-band laser

The self-heterodyne detection Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR) system using broad-band laser is proposed to reduce coherent Rayleigh noise and improve the system performance. Compared with the system with narrow-band laser, the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) threshold can be improved by about 3 dB. The experimental results of the narrow-band laser measurements for three times independently and the broad-band laser measurement for one time are compared. The root-mean-square (RMS) errors of Brillouin linewidth for two systems with narrow-band laser and broad-band laser are 6.9 MHz and 2.7 MHz, respectively, and the RMS errors of temperature for the heated fiber are about 1.3 °C and 0.7 °C. With the broad-band laser, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the unheated fiber is approximately equivalent to that of the integrated three independent Brillouin signals for the narrowband laser, and the results are believed to be beneficial for performance improvement and measurement time reduction.