Acoustic sensitivity of optical-fibre waveguides

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

The letter describes the interaction between coherent light propagating along an optical fibre and an acoustic wave incident on the fibre. The pressure sensitivity of a single-mode fibre is such that it may be used as a sensitive microphone with a very wide dynamic range. The corresponding effect in multimode fibres is a much more complex process, resulting in a reduction in both sensitivity and linearity. Experimental measurements of the sensitivity are in sensible agreement with the theoretical predictions.