Determination of Zero-Dispersion Wavelength by Four-Wave Mixing

We present an improved approach to determine the zero-dispersion wavelength by measurement of the four-wave mixing （FWM） effect employing the two-tunable-laser scanning method. The FWM behaviour of combined fibres with two different zero-dispersion wavelengths is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The results are compared with those by regular zero-dispersion wavelength test instrument using phase shift technique. The theoretical and experimental results confirm the feasibility of determination of zero-dispersion wavelength by FWM.     

New simplified coupling scheme for the delivery of 20 MW Nd:YAG laser pulses by large core optical fibers

The feasibility of transmitting 20 MW, 5 ns laser pulses from a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser through a standard 1500 μm multi mode optical fiber is demonstrated. A new coupling scheme employing an optical homogenizer prevents breakdown in air without the use of a vacuum chamber. At the same time a very homogeneous flat top beam profile on the fiber surface is achieved. The new scheme therefore clearly simplifies fiber coupling of high power laser pulses. Experiments on the delivery of more than 20000 pulses with 110 mJ mean energy without fiber damage have been performed. Received: 2 August 2000 / Revised version: 18 August 2000 / Published online: 22 November 2000     

Micro Extrinsic Fiber-Optic Fabry-Perot Interferometric Sensor Based on Erbium- and Boron-Doped Fibers

Micro extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometers （MEFPIs）, with cavity lengths of up to ~ 9 μm and maximum fringe contrast of ~19 dB, are fabricated by chemically etching Er- and B-doped optical fibers and then splicing the etched fiber to a single-mode fiber, for the first time to the best of our knowledge. The strain and temperature responses of the MEFPI sensors are investigated experimentally. Good linearity and high sensitivity are achieved. Such a type of MEFPI sensor is cost-effective and suitable for mass production, indicating its great potential for a wide range of applications.     

Differential mode delay (DMD) in graded-index multimode fiber: effect of DMD on bandwidth tuned by restricted launch conditions

The bandwidth behavior of graded-index multimode fibers (GI-MMFs) for different launching conditions is investigated to understand and characterize the effect of differential mode delay. In order to reduce the launch-power distribution the near field of a single-mode fiber is used to produce a controlled restricted launch. The baseband response is measured by observing the broadening of a narrow input pulse (time-domain measurement). The paper verifies the degradation in bandwidth due to profile distortion by scanning the spot of the single-mode fiber with a transversal offset from the center of the test sample. In addition, the impact of the launch-power distribution tuned by different spot-size diameters is demonstrated. Measurements were taken on ‘older’ 50-μm and 62.5-μm GI-MMFs as well as on laser-performance-optimized fibers more recently developed. Received: 12 November 2001 / Final version: 26 June 2002 / Published online: 25 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-781/205-242, E-mail: opto@fh-offenburg.de     

Experimental Investigation on a Fibre-Optic Hydrophone with a Cylindrical Helmholtz Resonator

A novel mechanical anti-aliasing filtering fibre-optic hydrophone with a cylindrical Helmholtz resonator is con- structed and tested. The experimental results show that the hydrophone has a function of low-pass filtering. The low frequency acoustic sensitivity is about -160 dB （1 rad/#Pa）, and the response curve has a resonance deter- mined by the Helmholtz resonator. Theoretical and experimental results both show that the resonant frequency moves towards high frequency with the increasing orifice diameters. The sensitivity attenuation of high frequency is larger than lOdB. This new fibre-optic hydrophone is a prototype device for a class of sensors used to eliminate the aliasing in future sonar systems.     

Long-period fiber-gratings produced by exposure with a low-pressure mercury lamp and their sensing characteristics

A new production method of long-period fiber-gratings using neither a laser nor a fine-positioning system was proposed. A low-pressure mercury lamp emitting 254 nm ultraviolet light was used as a light source. Hydrogen-loaded Ge-B co-doped fiber was exposed to the emission of the lamp through an amplitude mask. A coupling loss up to 23 dB was obtained for a grating period of 212 μm. The maximum coupling loss for a grating period of 460 μm was 18 dB. The growth rate of the refractive index change by mercury-lamp exposure was 1.3 × 10⁻⁴/h. The temperature and strain characteristics were measured and compared with those fabricated by excimer-laser exposure. The temperature and strain sensitivities of long-period gratings with a period of 212 μm were higher than those of 460 μm. The temperature and strain sensitivities of those by mercury-lamp exposure were almost equal to those by excimer-laser exposure of the same fiber. The sensitivities of those by excimer-laser exposure of non-loaded fiber were higher than those of hydrogen-loaded fiber by mercury-lamp or excimer-laser exposures except for the temperature sensitivity of a grating period of 460 μm.     

High Power Er/Yb Codoped Double Clad Fiber Pulsed Amplifier Based on an All-Fiber Configuration

We report an all-fiber two-stage high power pulsed amplifier, seeded with a 1550nm, 1 kHz repetition rate rectangular pulse, and based on Er/Yb co-doped double clad fiber. All the characteristics are measured in the experiment. The maximal slope efficiency is 22.56%, which is the highest we know of at such a low repetition rate, and the maximal output signal power is 1W. The various factors that affect the pulsed amplifier performance are analyzed. A high output power while keeping high power conversion efficiency can be obtained with careful selection of the input power, pump power and repetition rate. The experimental results show that the crucial parameters should be optimized when designing all-fiber pulsed amplifiers.     

Simultaneous measurement of refractive index and temperature using dual-period grapefruit microstructured fiber grating

By cascading the long period fiber grating (LPFG) and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) in grapefruit microstructured fiber, a novel dual-period fiber grating sensor is proposed. The refractive index and temperature are measured simultaneously by using the different sensitivity of FBG and LPFG. The relationship between dual-period fiber grating transmission spectrum and refractive index, resonant wavelengths and temperature are analyzed theoretically, respectively. The simulation results show that the accuracy of the sensor in measuring refractive index and temperature is estimated to be 2319.6 nm/RIU in a range from 1.33 to 1.36 and 0.017 nm/°C from 0 °C to 100 °C, respectively. Thus, the sensor has high refractive index sensitivity, and can provide the theoretical foundation for the optical fiber biosensor.     

Remote sensing of volcanic gases with a DFB-laser-based fiber spectrometer

We demonstrate monitoring of H₂O and CO₂ emitted in a volcanic area, using a spectrometer equipped with two distributed feedback (DFB) semiconductor diode lasers. Each laser is resonant with a molecular species and is fiber-coupled to allow remote operation of the spectrometer. Recordings of H₂O and CO₂ lines made at the Solfatara volcano, in southern Italy, are shown, and the application of such a spectrometer as a new tool for the continuous monitoring and surveillance of volcanoes is discussed. Received: 28 June 1999 / Revised version: 20 December 1999 / Published online: 23 February 2000     

Polymerization shrinkage of a dental resin composite determined by a fiber optic Fizeau interferometer

A fiber optic sensing method based on a Fizeau-type interferometric scheme was employed for monitoring linear polymerization shrinkage in dental restoratives. This technique offers several advantages over the conventional methods of measuring polymerization contraction. This simple, compact, non-invasive and self-calibrating system competes with both conventional and other high-resolution bulk interferometric techniques. In this work, an analysis of the quality of interference signal and fringes visibility was performed in order to characterize their resolution and application range. The measurements of percent linear contraction as a function of the sample thickness were carried out in this study on two dental composites: Filtek P60 (3M ESPE) Posterior Restorer and Filtek Z250 (3M ESPE) Universal Restorer. The results were discussed with respect to others obtained employing alternative techniques.     

Evaluation of error in the measurement of displacement vector components by using electronic speckle pattern interferometry

We report on the errors obtained by comparing in- and out-of-plane displacements calculated from the sensitivity matrix with all its components, and when only the component from the largest contributing of each one of the three interferometers is considered. Divergent illumination is considered in the evaluation of sensitivity vector to measure displacement vector components. This analysis is performed for a flat elastic target which is loaded in the x-direction and after in the z-direction. The technique applied is electronic speckle pattern interferometry.     

Modeling for laser-induced surface thermal lens in semiconductors

Received: 14 December 1997/Revised version: 19 May 1998     

Optical measurements with phase-conjugate mirrors

Phase-conjugate mirrors on the basis of photorefractive crystals offer interesting possibilities of application for optical measurement systems. In this paper we report on the application of phase-conjugate mirrors (PCMs) for optical measurement techniques. We show different schemes for realizing PCMs and discuss characteristics such as reflectivity, fidelity, and time behavior. We demonstrate that two-beam interferometers with PCMs and with a suitable phase-shifting unit in the reference arm have general advantages compared with conventional systems. It is shown that self-pumped PCMs (SPPCMs) could also be successfully used for novelty filtering systems comparing a present state of a signal phase with a reference phase. It is found that SPPCMs can improve both the axial and the lateral resolution of a confocal microscope. A 30% better resolution of the PCM system is established. Received: 14 June 1999 / Revised version: 4 October 1999 / Published online: 3 November 1999     

Noise characteristics of a high-power ytterbium-doped fibre amplifier at 1083 nm

Experimental results are reported for the noise characteristics of an Yb-doped fibre amplifier pumped at 975 nm, used as a booster of a low-noise narrow-linewidth single-frequency 1083-nm wavelength laser diode. The maximum output power of the amplifier is 1.2 W with a gain larger than 30 dB. An increase of the intensity-noise spectral density relative to the signal, by approximately 6.5 dB, is introduced by the amplification process, due to signal-amplified spontaneous-emission (ASE) beat noise. A remarkable increase of the noise level with decreasing frequency is observed below ≈35 kHz, probably due to technical noise of the amplifier pump diodes. The spectral broadening due to amplifier phase noise was measured to be less than 300 Hz with a 5-kHz-linewidth Nd:YAG laser and that for the 300-kHz-linewidth diode laser at 1083 nm is therefore expected to be in the same range. Received: 5 October 1999 / Revised version: 2 December 1999 / Published online: 24 March 2000     

Experimental investigation of self-starting operation in a F8L based on a symmetrical NOLM

We experimentally analyze the self-starting operation of a figure-eight mode-locked fiber laser. The design is based on a power-balanced nonlinear optical loop mirror (NOLM) with highly twisted low-birefringence fiber and a quarter-wave (QW) retarder in the loop. The NOLM operates by nonlinear polarization rotation. Self-starting mode-locking requires a careful adjustment of the NOLM low-power transmission, which is easily realized with our setup by adjusting the angle of the QW retarder. The laser is capable of generating ∼20 ps pulses at the fundamental repetition frequency of 0.78 MHz.     

All-optical switch and limiter based on nonlinear polarization in Mach-Zehnder interferometer coupled with a polarization-maintaining fiber-ring resonator

A novel all-optical switch based on nonlinear polarization mechanism using polarization-maintaining fiber ring with a polarization rotator is proposed. Optical switching with low threshold of mW order and optical limiting with broader limiting range, less fluctuation, higher damage threshold and response speed are demonstrated numerically. The deterioration of switching and the improvement of limiting originating from losses are also studied. Considering the tradeoff between switching power and bandwidth, the way to increase bandwidth is discussed.     

New theoretical and experimental results in fresnel optics with applications to matter-wave and X-ray interferometry

We present new methods and formulae for calculating the image amplitude and image spatial power spectral density produced by monochromatic point-source illumination of a finite (and/or infinite) periodic complex transmission grating. At specific finite-width resonances the image amplitude is seen to display periodic complex amplitude self-imaging of the grating, with interlaced alias images. The finite width grating resonances (as a function of spatial frequency) are broadened (from zero width) and displaced in frequency relative to those produced by an infinite grating, although the finite resonance width relative to illumination wavelength variation persists with infinite gratings. In the Fresnel domain the self images are generalizations of the Talbot and von Lau effects, while in the Fraunhofer to Fresnel transition domain, our formulae demonstrate the formation of these structures from Fraunhofer diffraction order side-lobes. Using these results, design criteria are provided for constructing lens-free three-grating interferometers with spatially diffuse illumination and detection. Such interferometers have a wide variety of applications for both X-rays and matter-waves, including a phase sensitive imaging device and/or narrow-band interference filter. For wavelengths in the Ångstrom to sub-Ångstrom range they feature high throughput and ease of fabrication. Experimental results using light with such an interferometer are presented. Our results conclusively demonstrate interference and image aliasing in such a device with spatially diffuse illumination and detection. The experiment is readily reproducible in any undergraduate physics laboratory.Work supported by ONR Grant N00014-90-J-1475, by the firm J. F. Clauser & Assoc., and (MWR) by a U.S. Dept. of Education Fellowship     

Polarization State Evolution in Fibre Polarization Transformer Influenced by Phase Difference

In accordance with the intrinsic structure of controllably-spun birefringent-fibre-based fibre polarization transformer （FPT）, the Jones vector is calculated from point to point along the polarization transforming fibre by the cascade differential phase retarder model. It is the first time using this concise method to examine the phasedifference effect on the evolution of state of polarization （SOP） inside this special fibre component. Both the extinction ratio and orientation angle of SOP are calculated to give out a whole evolution history from linear polarization light at the slow spun end into circular polarization light at the fast spun end, and vice versa. The influence of phase-difference is discussed on the polarization transforming performance and further referential conclusion is provided for design and test of the FPT component.     

The effect of silicon substrate on thickness of SiO2 thin film analysed by spectral reflectometry and interferometry

Techniques of spectral reflectometry and interferometry are used for measuring small changes in thickness of SiO₂ thin film grown by thermal oxidation on different silicon substrates. A slightly dispersive Michelson interferometer with one of its mirrors replaced by a thin-film structure is used to measure the reflectance and interferometric phase of the thin-film structure at the same time. The experimental data are used to determine precisely the thickness of the SiO₂ thin film on silicon wafers of two crystallographic orientations and different dopant concentrations. We confirmed very good agreement between the experimental data and theory and revealed that the thin-film thickness, which varies with the type of silicon substrate, depends linearly on the wavelength at which minimum in the spectral reflectance occurs. Similar behaviour was revealed for the interferometric phase.     

Multi-point abnormal-temperature warning sensor system with?different thresholds

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a time-division-multiplexing-based (TDM-based) multi-point abnormal-temperature warning sensor system with different thresholds. A multi-channel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) serving as the wavelength selector is employed in the fiber ring laser to generate a multi-wavelength pulsed light source. The sensor array is composed of multiple uniform sensing FBGs at different positions and with different nominal wavelengths. The warning signal is obtained by only monitoring the time slot between the injected pulse and the reflected pulse. The measurement range and resolution are theoretically discussed and experimentally demonstrated.