Optical time domain reflectometry based on a self-chaotic circular-sided microcavity laser

A self-chaotic circular-sided square microcavity laser, with a chaos bandwidth of 12.9 GHz and a flatness of +/- 3 dB, was applied in optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR). Using the broadband chaos laser, we demonstrated a range resolution of 4.5 mm and a 25-km detection distance experimentally. The solitary wide-bandwidth microcavity chaos laser, without the extra correlation peaks in optical feedback chaotic lasers, has shown potential advantages for correlation OTDR in practical application. (c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group