Polarization sensing using submarine optical cables
Abstract
Observation of polarization modulation at the output of a submarine link, extracted from a standard coherent telecom receiver, can be used to monitor geophysical events such as sea waves and earthquakes occurring along the cable. We analyze the effect of birefringence perturbations on the polarization at the output of a long-haul submarine transmission system, and provide analytical expressions instrumental to understanding the dependence of the observed polarization modulation on the amplitude and spatial extension of the observed events. By symmetry considerations, we show that in standard single mode fibers with random polarization coupling, if polarization fluctuations are caused by strain or pressure, the relative birefringence fluctuations are equal to the relative fluctuations of the polarization averaged phase. We finally show that pressure induced strain is a plausible explanation of the origin of polarization modulations observed in a long submarine link. The presented analysis paves the way for the transformation of transoceanic fiber optic links during operation into powerful sensing tools for otherwise inaccessible geophysical events occurring in the deep ocean.
Additional Information
© 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement. Received 8 March 2021; revised 2 May 2021; accepted 2 May 2021 (Doc. ID 424307); published 10 June 2021. A. Mecozzi acknowledges financial support from the Italian Government under Cipe resolution n. 135 (21 Dec. 2012), project INnovating City Planning through Information and Communication Technologies (INCIPICT) and the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca. Z. Zhan and J. Castillo Castellanos are funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Funding: Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (PRIN 2017 - FIRST); CIPE (INCIPICT); Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Data Availability: Data underlying the results presented in this paper are not publicly available at this time but may be obtained from the authors upon reasonable request.Attached Files
Published - optica-8-6-788.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 109848
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20210715-162308154
- Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (MIUR)
- PRIN 2017 - FIRST
- University of L'Aquila
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Created
-
2021-07-15Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2021-11-16Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Seismological Laboratory, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences (GPS)