Miniaturized mandrel-based fiber optic hydrophone.

Fiber optic hydrophones typically use a long sensor fiber wrapped around an air-filled mandrel to achieve high responsivity. Minimum mandrel diameter is determined by fiber reliability considerations. A miniature hydrophone, with diameter of about a third that of previous hydrophones, is reported. Such a hydrophone has applications for very thin towed arrays. Small diameter fiber with high strength Bragg gratings written through the coating are key enablers.