Multi-longitudinal mode laser beat-frequency optical fiber vibration sensing system based on an FM radio module

Abstract

A multi-longitudinal mode (MLM) laser beat-frequency optical fiber vibration sensor using a frequency modulation (FM) radio integrated circuit module as the FM demodulation scheme is presented and demonstrated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case where a fiber-optic sensing system is combined with an FM radio module, and dynamic sensing is well achieved. As the carrier of the vibration source, the beat-frequency signal (BFS) generated by the MLM laser is transmitted to the FM radio module for FM and demodulation. The experimental results show that the system can successfully detect the vibration signal in the frequency range of 20 Hz to 18 kHz and accurately demodulate the waveform and amplitude of the vibration signal source. The minimum shape variable detected by the system is 20.67 nm, based on the performance of the commercial FM radio module itself, which can effectively solve the problem of detecting tiny vibration. The idea of the optical fiber vibration sensing system is extremely innovative, with high sensitivity, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), good stability, and strong resistance to electromagnetic interference.