Demonstration of a passive subpicostrain fiber strain sensor

We demonstrate a fiber Fabry-Perot (FFP) sensor that is capable of detecting subpicostrain signals, from 100 Hz and extending beyond 100 kHz, using the Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) frequency locking technique. A low-power diode laser at 1550 nm is locked to a free-space reference cavity to suppress its free-running frequency noise, thereby stabilizing the laser. The stabilized laser is then used to interrogate a FFP sensor whose PDH error signal yields the instantaneous fiber strain. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.