Interferometric fiber-optic Doppler velocimeter with high-dynamic range

Abstract

We describe and demonstrate a fiber-optic laser Doppler velocity sensor which is based on interferometric processing of a wavelength encoded signal. The range of the fiber-optic velocimeter is scalable from less than 1 mm/s up to 1000 m/s through changes in the optical path imbalance in the fiber-optic interferometer. A dynamic velocity resolution of <80 μm/s//spl radic/Hz is demonstrated.