Abstract

A theory is presented which predicts the form of backscattered signatures obtained from multimode fibers in terms of the longitudinal variation of the fiber's characteristic parameters. Within a certain limit, the theory yields simple, analytical results; this limit requires one to employ a novel form of fiber excitation for which we adopt the term mode-filtered excitation. From backscattering signatures obtained using this form of excitation, it is possible to unambiguously separate intrinsic loss from fluctuations of the fiber's characteristic parameters. Various experimental verifications of the theory as well as demonstrations of the efficacy of the mode-filtering technique are presented.

© 1982 Optical Society of America

Rayleigh backscattering from the fundamental mode in step-index multimode optical fibers

M. A. Bisyarin, O. I. Kotov, A. H. Hartog, L. B. Liokumovich, and N. A. Ushakov
Appl. Opt. 56(2) 354-364 (2017)

Rayleigh backscattering from the fundamental mode in multimode optical fibers

M. A. Bisyarin, O. I. Kotov, A. H. Hartog, L. B. Liokumovich, and N. A. Ushakov
Appl. Opt. 55(19) 5041-5051 (2016)

Influence of a variable Rayleigh scattering-loss coefficient on the light backscattering in multimode optical fibers

M. A. Bisyarin, O. I. Kotov, A. H. Hartog, L. B. Liokumovich, and N. A. Ushakov
Appl. Opt. 56(16) 4629-4635 (2017)

Rayleigh backscattered radiation produced by an arbitrary incident mode in multimode optical fibers

M. A. Bisyarin, O. I. Kotov, A. H. Hartog, L. B. Liokumovich, and N. A. Ushakov
Appl. Opt. 57(22) 6534-6544 (2018)

Rayleigh backscattering theory for single-mode optical fibers

Masataka Nakazawa
J. Opt. Soc. Am. 73(9) 1175-1180 (1983)