Wang, ShengYang, ZhishengSoto, MarceloThévenaz, Luc2019-09-042019-09-042019-09-042019-08-2810.1117/12.2540930https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/160805The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the measurement for direct-detection Brillouin optical time-domain analyzers is modelled and experimentally validated, with and without the use of optical pre-amplification. Results indicate that preamplification associated with a good-quality photo-detector improves considerably the actual SNR, with only 1.5 dB penalty compared to the ideal shot noise limit.text::conference output::conference proceedings::conference paper