The Influence of Germanium Concentration in the Fiber Core on Temperature Sensitivity in Rayleigh Scattering-Based OFDR

This paper presents a linear dependence of temperature sensitivity in Rayleigh scattering-based optical frequency domain reflectometry (OFDR) on the concentration of germanium in the fiber core. Eight different commercially available single-mode fibers have been investigated and compared with the standard SMF-28 Corning fiber. We have experimentally analyzed the influence of germanium concentration in the fiber core, the protective coating, the degree of reduction of the fiber cladding’s diameter, and the amount of humidity on Rayleigh backscatter in response to temperatures ranging from 10-90°C. Maximum sensitivity was 1.343 GHz/°C for 20.78 mol % of the germanium-doped bare fiber and it does not depend on changes in humidity. The experimental results were compared and qualitatively agreed with the numerical simulations.