DFB fiber laser hydrophone with band-pass response

A distributed-feedback fiber laser hydrophone with band-pass response is presented. The design of the hydrophone aims to equalize static pressure and eliminate signal aliasing of high-frequency acoustic components. Theoretical analysis is presented based on electro-acoustic theory. The experimental results agree well with the theory. The measured underwater responses show that the hydrophone has a pressure sensitivity of -170 dB re:pm/μPa over a bandwidth between 100 Hz and 500 Hz. A sensitivity reduction exceeding -35 dB is observed at 2500 Hz. The tested static pressure sensitivity of the hydrophone is -226 dB. The proposed fiber laser hydrophone of this kind is expected to have important application in deep water fiber-optic sonar systems with anti-aliasing, and the understanding gained through this work can be extended to a guide of hydrophone design for required filtering bandwidth.