A novel method for fabricating apodized fiber Bragg gratings

In this paper, a new implementation of the double exposure method for fabricating apodized fiber Bragg gratings by controlling the parameters of rotation stage and the number of UV-shots is presented. As a result, the average refractive index is kept nearly constant along the Bragg grating, and various apodized fiber Bragg grating with high reflectivity and high side lobe suppression ratio have been fabricated in single-mode hydrogen-loaded photosensitive fiber . The achieved side-lobe suppression ratio is larger than 25 dB.     

Changing photo-written Bragg wavelengths of fiber gratings via one phase mask and four mirrors

A phase mask interferometer is developed to photo-write long gratings with arbitrary Bragg wavelengths. In this system, the fiber Bragg grating is photo-written by UV interference stripes of 193 nm reflected from two rotatable mirrors and two fixed mirrors, where the phase mask is not only used as a beam splitter, but also initialized the reference quantity of Bragg wavelength; the fixed mirrors are used for reducing the incident angle; the rotatable mirrors are used for adjusting the corresponding photo-written Bragg wavelength. It is worth noting that the photo-written length is fourfold as high as the length in the Talbot interferometer with the same mirror size.     

C-band continuously tunable lasers using tunable fiber Bragg gratings

We report the development of a ring tunable fiber laser based on tunable fiber Bragg gratings (TFBG) integrated with an optical circulator. The TFBG is embedded inside a 3-piont bending device for wavelength tuning. The tunable laser operating in the C-band has power variation, tuning resolution, tuning range and laser line width of ±0.5 dB, 0.5 nm, 25.0 nm and less than 0.05 nm, respectively. As 40 mW of pump power is used, the ring tunable laser has a side mode suppression ratio of 60 dB and a power conversion efficiency of 25%. These specifications ensure the high-quality operation of a tunable laser.     

Fractional optical Hilbert transform using phase shifted fiber Bragg gratings

In this paper, we demonstrate that an arbitrary order (including both integer and fractional orders) Hilbert transform (HT) of an input optical waveform can be implemented by a simple and practical phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating (PSFBG) operated in reflection mode. The PSFBG consists of two concatenated identical uniform FBGs with a proper phase shift between them. It is proved that both the phase shift of the FBGs and the apodizing profile of the refractive index modulation determine the order of the transform. The simulation results show that the device can perform arbitrary fractional Hilbert transform (FHT) with excellent accuracy for input signals with up to hundreds of GHz bandwidth using feasible FBG structures.     

Apodised fiber Bragg gratings fabricated with a uniform phase mask using Gaussian beam laser

A new exposure scheme for fabricating apodised fiber Bragg gratings by the use of a uniform phase mask and a Gaussian beam laser is demonstrated. Average refractive index is kept nearly constant along the grating to derive a side lobe suppression of 20 dB in the shorter wavelength. This scheme allows the writing of truly apodized fiber Bragg gratings.     

Non-minimum phase reconstruction from amplitude data in fiber Bragg gratings using an adaptive simulated annealing algorithm

Adaptive simulated annealing algorithm used for phase reconstruction in fiber Bragg grating (FBG) is presented. Theory and numerical simulations show that the non-minimum phase of the FBG can be reconstructed by using this method.     

Spectral Talbot phenomena in sampled arbitrarily chirped Bragg gratings

We derive the general conditions for which spectral Talbot phenomena, both integer and fractional self-imaging, can be observed in sampled arbitrarily chirped fiber Bragg gratings. These results are a generalization of those previously reported in [C. Wang, J. Azaña, L.R. Chen, Opt. Lett. 29(14) (2004) 1590] in which spectral Talbot phenomena were observed in sampled linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings. We confirm our theoretical derivations with numerical simulations.     

Sensing properties of fiber Bragg gratings in small-core Ge-doped photonic crystal fibers

We report about fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inscribed in two different types of small-core Ge-doped photonic crystal fibers with a UV laser. Sensing properties of the FBGs were systematically investigated by means of demonstrating the responses of Bragg wavelengths to temperature, strain, bending, and transverse-loading. The Bragg wavelength of the FBGs shifts toward longer wavelengths with increasing temperature, tensile strain, and transverse-loading. Moreover, the bending and transverse-loading properties of the FBGs are sensitive to the fiber orientations. The reasonable analyses for these sensing properties also are presented.     

Flexible chirp control using the linearly inherent chirped phase mask with the equivalent chirp design

The design of fiber Bragg grating to achieve different chirp amount in the selective transmission channel is presented. The method depends on the combination effect of introduced equivalent chirp with the linearly inherent chirp provided by the phase mask. Since these two chirps can be incorporated, or be counteracted, the different chirp amount can be easily obtained.     

Fibonacci quasi-periodic superstructure fiber Bragg gratings

Superstructure fiber Bragg gratings constructed following the Fibonacci sequence are proposed and simulated by using the transfer matrix method. The reflection spectrum has a multi-fractal structure as a function of the wavelength and is symmetric to the center. The reflectivity has self-similarity and scaling with respect to the Fibonacci sequence order at the central wavelength. For the transmission spectrum, the interaction of the core-cladding mode is investigated and the particular wavelengths for which the resonance condition is satisfied are located by varying the grating parameters. The potential application of the quasi-periodic structure as fiber sensors is also proposed.     

Long-period fiber gratings fabricated with a CO2 laser beam and phase mask

A new holographic technique is proposed for fabricating long-period fiber gratings (LPGs) using a CO₂-laser and a phase mask. A CO₂ laser operating at 10.6 μm is incident normally on the phase mask and the diffracted interfering beams imprint a thermally induced periodic modulation into the cladding of the fiber placed behind the mask. Preliminary results of this technique are presented and discussed. An unusual self-tapered fiber LPG (STFLPG) is also presented.     

A novel method of optimal apodization selection for chirped fiber Bragg gratings

Apodization is a crucial technology for improving the dispersion performance of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). In this paper, we focus on how to select an optimal apodization for chirped fiber Bragg gratings and demonstrate a novel apodization selection method capable of choosing the optimal apodization based on the relationship between the bandwidth change and variation in average group delay ripple (GDR). Compared with current approaches, the novel method can select an optimal apodization profile and parameter for FBGs easily and accurately. Two numerical experiments are used to demonstrate the advantages of this method, one exhibits the different performances of five different apodization profiles, the other evaluates the influence of FBG parameters such as grating length, period, chirp, and index change on the apodization performance.     

On the possible use of optical fiber Bragg gratings as strain sensors for geodynamical monitoring

Optical fiber sensors can be used to measure many different parameters including strain, temperature, pressure, displacement, electrical field, refractive index, rotation, position and vibrations. Among a variety of fiber sensors, fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) have numerous advantages over other optical fiber sensors. One of the major advantages of this type of sensors is attributed to wavelength-encoded information given by the Bragg grating. Since the wavelength is an absolute parameter, signal from FBG may be processed such that its information remains immune to power fluctuations along the optical path. This inherent characteristic makes the FBG sensors very attractive for application in harsh environments, “smart structures” and on-site measurements.This paper reviews the achievements about the FBG as a strain and temperature sensor and describes the potential applications of FBG sensors for applications in the field of geophysics and its expected development in the near future. The applications could include: rock deformation, fiber-optic geophone, optical based seismograph, vertical seismic profiling and structural monitoring of civil structures. Different techniques to detect strains and various applications will be reviewed and discussed. The problem of temperature–strain cross sensitivity, that is particularly difficult to eliminate, is addressed and approaches to overcome it are discussed.     

间插取样光纤光栅多通道滤波器

对间插取样光纤光栅进行了理论分析和数值模拟,并依照理论分析及数值模拟的结果进行了实验研究,采用逐点扫描曝光工艺首次制作出具有10个以上通道数的光纤光栅梳状滤波器。这种方法工艺简单,控制精度要求低,是一种具有良好实用化前景的多通道光纤光栅滤波器制作技术。     

Effects of doping concentrations on the regeneration of Bragg gratings in hydrogen loaded optical fibers

The fabrication and optimization of regenerated Bragg gratings (RBGs) in hydrogen loaded single mode optical fibers (SMF) are presented. In addition to standard Ge-doped SMF, two kinds of B-Ge codoped SMFs with different doping concentrations are prepared using plasma-activated chemical vapor deposition (PCVD) technique to fabricate RBGs. The effects of doping concentrations on the dynamics of grating regeneration and the thermal stability of RBGs are experimentally investigated. The reflectivity of RBGs with length of 10 mm was enhanced from 20% to 40% through the optimization of doping concentrations. All fabricated RBGs can sustain in high temperature up to 1000 °C.     

Temperature-independent bending sensor with tilted fiber Bragg grating interacting with multimode fiber

A new type fiber bending sensor based on a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) interacting with a multimode fiber (MMF) is presented. The sensing head is formed by insertion of a small section of MMF between a single-mode fiber (SMF) and the TFBG. The average reflective power in the cladding modes decreases with the increase of curvature. The measurement range of the curvature from 0 to 2.5 m⁻¹ with a measurement sensitivity of −802.4 nW/m⁻¹ is achieved. The proposed sensor is also proved as temperature-independent from the experimental investigation.     

Temperature-insensitive 2-D tilt sensor by incorporating fiber Bragg gratings with a hybrid pendulum

A novel two-dimensional (2-D) tilt sensor is demonstrated by incorporating only two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with a hybrid pendulum transducer. The pendulum transducer is specially designed with hollow half at the upper side and solid half at the lower side. Two FBGs were attached on the surface separated by one fourth of the circumference of the rod of pendulum and across the interface of its hollow and solid parts. Reflection peaks of FBGs split by the applied tilt angle. 2-D tilt angle can be determined by monitoring the wavelength separations of the split peak in two FBGs, which is inherently insensitive to temperature. In the experiment, a sensitivity of 0.054 nm/° over a wide range of 20º has been achieved, with the accuracy of 0.27°.     

Dynamic strain monitoring by wavelength locking between two fiber Bragg gratings fiber sensing system

We demonstrated a fiber sensing system using the method of wavelength locking of two identical fibers Bragg gratings (FBG) to interrogate the wavelength shift by directly measuring the intensity of the reflection from the sensing Bragg grating. The light source of the fiber sensing system is an EDFA fiber ring laser pumped by a 980 nm laser diode and a narrow bandwidth fiber Bragg grating for the filter of the ring laser resonator. The wavelength shift is converted to the intensity deviation of the reflection from the sensing FBG under strain variation, and is able to achieve real-time sensing of the dynamic strain sensing in civil engineering. The characteristics and key factors to maintain stability of the dynamic strain sensing system are discussed.     

Fiber Bragg grating strain sensor based on fiber laser

A study on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensor, based on erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser, is presented. A strain-sensing element, FBG, also acts as the lasing wavelength selecting component. When strain is applied on the FBG, the laser cavity loss changes, leading to a modification of the laser transient. Strain measurements are obtained in the time domain by simply measuring the EDF laser build-up time. Relative variation in the build-up time of up to 190%, for a strain range from 0 με to 2350 με, is achieved with a resolution corresponding to a strain of better than 2.35 με. This study demonstrates a novel fiber sensor concept and the technical feasibility to develop fiber strain measurement.