Low-noise and high-sensitivity Φ-OTDR based on an optimized dual-pulse heterodyne detection scheme

In this paper, a novel phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry ($\Phi $Φ-OTDR) based on the optimized dual-pulse heterodyne detection scheme (DHDS) is proposed, which is designed to implement distributed vibration sensing with low phase noise and high sensitivity. The optimized DHDS employs an unbalanced interferometer to separate a light pulse into dual probe pulses so that they are generated by the laser at the same time. This ensures that the measurement sensitivity of a phase-interrogation-based $\Phi $Φ-OTDR can be improved simply by increasing the space interval of the dual probe pulses while the phase noise of the $\Phi $Φ-OTDR does not deteriorate. In addition, the proposed DHDS utilizes only one acousto-optic modulator (AOM) to shift the frequencies of the dual probe pulses so as to eliminate the effects of frequency shift jitters, and thus guarantees low phase noise level of a $\Phi $Φ-OTDR. The distributed vibration sensing performances of the $\Phi $Φ-OTDR with the proposed DHDS are theoretically and experimentally studied in terms of multi-event signal restoration and phase noise level. The proposed approach solves the contradiction between the measurement sensitivity and phase noise of a $\Phi $Φ-OTDR and promotes the $\Phi $Φ-OTDR to the applications of distributed weak vibration sensing.