Precision loss measurements in short lengths of optical fibre by reflectometry without using Rayleigh scattering

Abstract

Abstract To improve accuracy of light attenuation measurements in optical fibres, especially in short ones, tens and hundreds of metres in length, we propose rejecting a conventional reflectometric approach based on Rayleigh scattering intensity measurements. To this end, we propose for the first time the use of boson peaks in Raman scattering, which, on the one hand, produce no interference effects and no related noise in reflectograms, and, on the other, lie within the C-band. Even at a fibre length as short as 50 m, the attenuation measurement error does not exceed 0.002 dB km−1. We demonstrate the possibility of compensating for the temperature variation of boson peak intensity by concurrently obtaining a reflectogram for the anti-Stokes line of the fundamental Raman band.