Enhanced Sensing Performance in Long Distance Brillouin Optical Time-Domain Analyzer Based on Raman Amplification: Theoretical and Experimental Investigation

The Raman amplification can be employed to obtain the enhanced sensing performance in long-distance Brillouin optical time-domain analyzer (BOTDA) with higher temperature measurement accuracy over the whole sensing fiber. Theoretical investigation on the detected probe waveshape has been performed by using the probe-pump coupled equations combined with Raman amplification. The experimental characterization has been demonstrated to validate the theoretical prediction. The results show that, the 75 Km sensing distance can be achieved by utilizing the bi-directional Raman amplification with measurement accuracy of +/- 0.6 degrees C over the whole sensing fiber. The larger Raman power and Brillouin pump power are helpful to improve the sensing signal-noise ratio (SNR). There exists an optimum range for the input probe power and the extinction ratio (ER) of input Brillouin pump pulse. The BOTDA with Raman amplification has considerable potentials to realize long-distance strain and temperature measurement for structural health monitoring and fire alarming, etc.