SIMPLIFIED CONFIGURATION OF OPTICAL CORRELATIONDOMAIN REFLECTOMETRY USING PLASTIC FIBERS.

We successfully demonstrated simplified optical correlation-domain reflectometry (OCDR) using a plastic optical fiber (POF). The optical path of reference light can be removed by using as reference light the Fresnel light reflected at the interface between a silica single-mode fiber and the POF as reference light. After a basic demonstration, we investigated the spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) dependences on sweep time of modulation frequency of the light source. The spatial resolution and the SNR became constant when the sweep time was longer than 30 ms. The optimal sweep time was found to be 30 ms (corresponding to 33-Hz sampling rate), at which both the spatial resolution and the SNR were kept higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]