Reduction of semiconductor laser diode phase and amplitude noise in interferometric fiber optic sensors.

An optical configuration employing two conventional Michelson interferometers and a fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer connected in parallel is used to demonstrate the principle of common mode rejection of both the amplitude and frequency noise of a semiconductor laser. Common mode noise rejection is maximized when the outputs of the two interferometers with matched path imbalance, fringe visibility and amplitude are differentially combined. One interferometer is used as a reference, and the other as a sensing interferometer. The fiber Fabry-Perot interferometer is used as the sensing interferometer and is demonstrated as a miniature acoustic sensing element.