Relative humidity sensor with optical fiber Bragg gratings

A novel concept for an intrinsic relative humidity (RH) sensor that uses polyimide-recoated fiber Bragg gratings is presented. Tests in a controlled environment indicate that the sensor has a linear, reversible, and accurate response behavior at 10-90% RH and at 13-60 degrees C. The RH and temperature sensitivities were measured as a function of coating thickness, and the thermal and hygroscopic expansion coefficients of the polyimide coating were determined.     

Phase-shifted Bragg microstructured optical fiber gratings utilizing infiltrated ferrofluids

Results are presented on the efficient spectral manipulation of uniform and chirped Bragg reflectors inscribed in microstructured optical fibers utilizing short lengths of ferrofluids infiltrated in their capillaries. The infiltrated ferrofluidic defects can generate either parasitic reflection notch features in uniform Bragg reflectors of up to 80% visibility and ~0.1 nm spectral shift or tunability of the bandwidth and strength reflection up to 100% when introduced into chirped gratings. Spectra are presented for different spatial positions and optical characteristics of the ferrofluidic section.     

Electrically tunable Bragg gratings in single-mode polymer optical fiber

We present what is to our knowledge the first demonstration of a tunable fiber Bragg grating device in polymer optical fiber that utilizes a thin-film resistive heater deposited on the surface of the fiber. The polymer fiber was coated via photochemical deposition of a Pd/Cu metallic layer with a procedure induced by vacuum-ultraviolet radiation at room temperature. The resulting device, when wavelength tuned via joule heating, underwent a wavelength shift of 2 nm for a moderate input power of 160 mW, a wavelength to input power coefficient of -13.4 pm/mW, and a time constant of 1.7 s(-1).     

Bending insensitivity of fiber Bragg gratings in suspended-core optical fibers

This Letter presents simulation and experimental results that explore bending insensitivity of fiber Bragg gratings in suspended-core optical fibers. The implementation of thin silica bridge in the fibers enhances index contrast of the fiber core and reduces bending-induced strain transfer to the fiber core. This fiber design lead to a reduction of over 7 times in strain-induced fiber Bragg grating resonant peak shifts in the suspended-core fiber compared with that in standard telecommunication fiber, and an 0.14 dB bending loss at a bending radius of 6.35 mm.     

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.     

Two-axis bend measurement with Bragg gratings in multicore optical fiber

We describe what is to our knowledge the first use of fiber Bragg gratings written into three separate cores of a multicore fiber for two-axis curvature measurement. The gratings act as independent, but isothermal, fiber strain gauges for which local curvature determines the difference in strain between cores, permitting temperature-independent bend measurement.     

Arbitrary chirped fiber Bragg gratings on application of filtering for optical communications

This paper presents an analysis of how to obtain narrow transmission band in the centre of the spectrum of the arbitrary chirped fiber Bragg grating (ACFBG). Grating chirp coefficient and refractive index profile are the critical parameters in contributing to performance of fiber Bragg grating. The reflection spectra and transmission band were analyzed with different refractive index profile. Apodization techniques are used to get optimized reflection spectra. The simulations are based on solving coupled mode equations by transfer matrix method that describes the interaction of guided modes.     

Sampled phase-shift fiber Bragg gratings

A phase-shift fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with sampling is proposed to generate a multi-channel bandpass filter in the background of multi-channel stopbands. The sampled noire fiber gratings are analyzed by Fourier transform theory first, and then simulation and experiment are performed, the results show that transmission peaks are opened in every reflective channel, the spectrum shape of every channel is identical.It can be used to fabricate multi-wavelength distributed feedback (DFB) fiber laser.     

Fiber-fault monitoring technique for passive optical networks based on fiber Bragg gratings and semiconductor optical amplifier

A novel monitoring method for in-service fault indemnification in passive optical networks (PONs) is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The proposed monitoring technique is based on fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors and fiber laser scheme, and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is used to serve as a gain medium. By detecting the number of the wavelength lasing, the fiber-fault can be monitored without affecting the in-service channels. Moreover, the strain behavior on the FBGs has also been discussed.     

Tunable Bragg gratings for fiber lasers

A tuning method of a fiber Bragg grating by the bending compression-tension is considered. With this method, a relative tuning range of the resonance wavelength of the grating of about 5% has been obtained. The changes in the shape of the spectrum and in the grating reflectivity during the tuning process are studied. The reflectivity of the fiber Bragg grating has been found to considerably increase with increasing degree of compression. It is shown that such an increase is caused by compression-induced changes in the refractive index modulation amplitude in the grating. The fiber Bragg grating developed has been applied for tuning the radiation wavelength of an ytterbium fiber laser. The tuning range of the laser has been found to be 45 nm around the central wavelength 1080 nm.     

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.     

Periodic and solitary waves in optical fiber Bragg gratings with dispersive reflectivity

The system of partial differential equations for moving optical solitons in fiber Bragg gratings are studied. The traveling wave reductions are used to look for solutions of the system of equations. The compatibility conditions for the overdetermined system of equations are analyzed and discussed. Periodic and solitary waves in optical fiber gratings are found and illustrated.     

High-temperature-resistant chemical composition Bragg gratings in Er3+-doped optical fiber

Chemical composition gratings (CCGs), unlike standard fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), do not suffer a significant decrease in reflectance or an irreversible wavelength shift when they are exposed to elevated temperatures. To date, the growth of CCGs has been related to the fluorine content of the fibers in which they are written. It is shown that FBGs with high thermal stability, resembling CCGs, can be fabricated in Er3+-doped optical fibers that do not contain any fluorine.     

Characteristics of hydrogenated fiber Bragg gratings

By utilizing both hydrogen loading for photosensitivity enhancement and a phase mask for holographic exposure, we have fabricated fiber Bragg grating with controllable reflectance and bandwidth. The evolution of hydrogen diffusion into a single-mode optical fiber before exposure, and out of the fiber after exposure was characterized, and the results were consistent with the theoretical modeling. The shifting of Bragg wavelength and thermal reliability were found related to the hydrogen behavior inside the fiber. One solution to prevent Bragg wavelength from drifting after the grating was formed and hence to increase the grating's reliability was to anneal it so that the residual hydrogen was forced out of the optical fiber in a short time. Received: 12 June 1996/Accepted: 17 June 1996     

Fiber Bragg gratings for optical telecommunications

Bragg gratings photoimprinted in optical fibers have become essential for flattening the gain of amplifiers, stabilizing the wavelength of pumps or sources, and for fiber lasers. Advantages are low insertion loss, very low polarization sensitivity and an extremely flexible design. Those advantages make gratings also very attractive candidates for applications of complex filtering or precise chromatic dispersion compensation. This article briefly describes the different types of Bragg gratings as well as several examples of applications in optical telecommunications. To cite this article: I. Riant, C. R. Physique 4 (2003).     

Modal coupling in fiber tapers decorated with metallic surface gratings

An interference-based scheme for fabricating periodic metal gratings on one side of the uniform waist of optical fiber tapers has been developed. Optical characterization of a 5 mm long, 511 nm period gold grating fiber taper with a 10 microm diameter reveals backward coupling to both guided and radiation modes that is explained by using an analytical mode-coupling analysis. A refractometer based on this grating taper has a high and constant sensitivity over a large refractive index operating range of 1 to 1.41.     

Amplification of optical delay by use of matched linearly chirped fiber Bragg gratings

We describe the use of a matched linearly chirped fiber Bragg grating (FBG) pair as a key element in an adjustable optical delay line. This delay line has the unique property that the achievable optical group delay is orders of magnitude greater (factor of 10(2) in our experiment) than the actual physical displacement. We demonstrate operation of such an optical delay line over a delay range of 3.5 mm using a pair of matched 1300-nm chirped FBGs with a bandwidth of 20 nm each.     

Analysis of sampled fiber Bragg gratings in polarization-maintaining fiber

A novel type of sampled fiber Bragg gratings （FBGs） written in polarization-maintaining fiber （PMF） is proposed. The reflection spectrum, time delay, and group velocity dispersion （GVD） of the gratings are analyzed. In addition, the reflection spectrum is optimized by apodization. The scheme of multi-wavelength output based on the gratings is proposed, which could be used as a multi-wavelength polarization filter in the density wavelength division multiplexed （DWDM） system.