A study on degradation of spatial resolution in frequency-modulated continuous wave reflectometry due to nonlinear optical frequency sweep

The degradation of the spatial resolution in frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) reflectometry due to the nonlinearity in the optical frequency sweep are discussed both experimentally and theoretically. The response lag in the optical frequency change of a laser diode behind the injection current change was experimentally measured, showing that there were several time constants in the optical frequency response. The interference signals in the FMCW reflectometry were theoretically calculated by taking account of the response lag. From these calculations, the beat frequency becomes low just after the turning point of the optical frequency sweep; this is due to the response lag in the optical frequency response. As a result, the spectrum of the interference signal is spread out toward the low frequency region and spatial resolution is degraded. Moreover, the spatial resolution is seriously degraded with increasing the diagnosing distance due to the nonlinearity in the optical frequency sweep. The calculated results agree well with the measured results.