Rayleigh-based OTDR with dynamic modal crosstalk suppression.

We propose and demonstrate a novel approach for measuring the modal attenuation of the splice loss of a purely LP11 mode group by using a Rayleigh-based OTDR with a dynamic modal crosstalk (XT) suppression technique for few-mode fibers (FMFs). With the proposed approach, the Brillouin loss interaction with a Brillouin Stokes beam co-propagating with the OTDR probe removes the modal XT caused at the modal conversion point and suppresses the accumulated modal XT that is detected. A preliminary experiment is demonstrated using spliced FMFs with a core-offset. Experiments revealed that the proposed technique can accurately measure the splice loss variations of a purely LP11 mode group.