Characterization of distributed modal birefringence in a few-mode fiber based on Brillouin dynamic grating

We propose and demonstrate generation of Brillouin dynamic grating (BDG) in a few-mode fiber (FMF) with a Gaussian pulse pump and a counterpropagating continuous wave pump in LP01 mode. Brillouin optical time-domain analysis (BOTDA) is achieved by launching a third Gaussian pulse probe in LP11 mode. With coherent detection and time-domain analysis on the backreflected probe signal, the modal birefringence of the FMF is characterized via the distributed BDG with high spatial resolution and high accuracy.