In this study, an experimental system was developed using a broadband wavelength-swept laser for fast and broadband spectroscopic measurements at ∼1550 nm. The broadband wavelength-swept laser employed Fourier domain mode-locking (FDML) to realize a high-speed sweep rate of 50.7 kHz. FDML lasers at ∼1550 nm experience a problem of the sweep bandwidth being limited by the amplification wavelength range of the semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). To realize a sweep bandwidth >100 nm, the proposed broadband FDML laser incorporated SOAs with different amplification wavelength ranges in parallel. Consequently, it expanded the sweep bandwidth to 120 nm at a center wavelength of 1544 nm. The experimental system employed the broadband FDML laser and introduced reference and compensation optics. These optics can compensate for the effects of fluctuations in optical output intensity and wavelength shift in the laser to improve measurement stability. Moreover, the experimental system demonstrated fast transmission spectrum measurements with a wavelength range of 1500 to 1580 nm.
We propose a real-time measurement system that prevents overlapping reflection signals in fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The system combines a wavelength-swept laser using Fourier domain mode-locking (FDML) and a buffer stage with three optical paths to obtain a high-speed measurement rate of 304.2 kHz. Systems using high-speed wavelength-swept lasers are affected by the propagation time (delay) of the optical fiber. The delay causes problems such as inaccurate measurements, difficulty in distinguishing FBG reflection signals, and overlapping FBG reflection signals. To prevent these problems, we introduce a method for pulse modulation of a wavelength-swept laser by a fiber switch. This method allows for correction of delays by extracting and identifying only the reflection signal of the FBG at a specific wavelength. By identifying the reflection signals of all FBGs, the overlapping signals can be determined. Accordingly, we devise a measurement method that uses a fiber switch to shade light in the wavelength region of one FBG with overlapping signals from the wavelength-swept light of the laser. This method suppresses overlapping and allows only the reflection signal of the other FBGs to be extracted and demodulated. The proposed system uses bidirectional forward and backward scans with the wavelength-swept laser, such that the shaded FBG signals can be demodulated with either scanning direction. We demonstrate that the system using a three-buffered FDML laser can simultaneously measure the strain or vibration of FBGs installed at arbitrary distances.
We constructed a temperature-controlled Fourier domain mode locking (TC-FDML) laser capable of high-speed wavelength sweeping and developed a real-time fiber Bragg grating (FBG) measurement system. The TC-FDML laser can perform high-speed wavelength sweeping at a sweep frequency of 50.7 kHz with a scan range of ∼60 nm in the 1.55-μm band. This system uses a data acquisition system mounting an analog/digital converter and field programmable gate array that enables real-time FBG measurement at a sampling frequency of 250 MHz. Using bidirectional wavelength sweeping by the TC-FDML laser, the system has a measurement time resolution of 9.9 μs. We show that the developed system can measure high-speed vibrations of several kHz and perform simultaneous and continuous measurements of multiple FBGs for a period of one hour.
We developed a high-speed wavelength-swept laser prototype using Fourier domain mode locking (FDML) and a reflection wavelength measuring system that could rapidly measure a fiber Bragg grating (FBG). The prototype FDML laser incorporated a temperature-controlled optical tunable filter and had a sweep bandwidth of 40 nm in the 1.55 μm wavelength band. This system was able to perform high-speed wavelength sweeping with a sweep frequency of 50.7 kHz and had a temporal resolution of 9.9 μs, which was equivalent to half of the laser’s sweep cycle, due to the FDML laser’s bidirectional swept-wavelength. In this paper, we report on high-speed vibration measurements of several kHz by this system using FBGs.
KEYWORDS: Fiber Bragg gratings, Databases, Signal detection, Visualization, Sensors, Stereolithography, Data acquisition, Visual analytics, Local area networks, Thulium
The purpose of this research is the development of a system for fabricating high-speed and long-time measurements of wide-band vibration using fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) to determine the health of structures. We developed a real-time FBG interrogation system using wavelength swept laser. This system can perform real-time measurement of reflected wavelength from a multiple FBG at a temporal resolution of 0.1 ms. The authors also constructed a database system for managing the data obtained from high-speed and long-time measurement. This database system manages data using a relational database and transfers information on FBG reflected wavelengths obtained from this measurement system via the local network. We have demonstrated that this system is able to measure reflected wavelengths from a multipoint FBG at a temporal resolution of 0.1 ms over 24 hours, it was shown that this system could also monitor instantaneously applied high-speed vibrations.
The objective of this research is the construction of a structural health monitoring system that uses fiber Bragg grating (FBG) to determine the health of structures. We develop fast FBG interrogator for real-time measurement of the reflected wavelength of a multipoint FBG to monitor the broadband vibration of a structure. This FBG interrogator, which combines a wavelength-swept laser and a real-time measurement system is capable of measuring wavelength within a standard deviation of 2×10-3 nm or less. We have demonstrated that the FBG interrogator is able to measure vibration that has a resonance frequency of 440 Hz at intervals of 0.1 ms with a multipoint FBG.
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