Brillouin Optical Correlation‐Domain Reflectometry With Polymer Fibers Under Scrambled Polarization Enabled by Angled Connections

ABSTRACT Polymer optical fibers (POFs) are attractive for Brillouin optical correlation‐domain reflectometry (BOCDR) because of their flexibility and high strain tolerance. However, their low Brillouin frequency shift causes spectral overlap with Fresnel reflections, limiting the use of polarization scrambling. We show that angled physical contact (APC) connections suppress these reflections and enable reliable distributed sensing under scrambled polarization states. Distributed strain measurements performed with a 6‐m POF reveal that conventional physical contact (PC) connections fail to detect strain, whereas APC connections yield Brillouin signals with a high signal‐to‐noise ratio and correctly measure a 0.65% strain.