Abstract

This work shows the possibility of using chirped pulse amplification concepts in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of phase sensitive optical time domain reflectometry (Phi OTDR) sensors. This method allows to increase the SNR of a Phi OTDR sensor without sacrificing spatial resolution. Here, we report a Phi OTDR sensor with a spatial resolution of 3 mm ( limited only by the available detection equipment) and an SNR increase of 20 dB over the traditional architecture. To our knowledge, this is the highest-resolution Phi OTDR sensor reported to date.