Abstract

Optical ranging is important in various fields, such as the characterization of an optical network, fiber optic sensors, and so on. To implement these applications, a spatial resolution better than 1 cm over an operating range of tens of kilometers is desirable. Such performance, however, has not yet been demonstrated, as far as we know. In this paper we demonstrate long distance measurement by an optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) using a frequency-shifted feedback (FSF) fiber laser, and achieve a spatial resolution of 0.4 cm at an operating range of 20 km.

© 2000 Optical Society of America