Fiber-optic pH-sensors in long-period fiber gratings using electrostatic self-assembly

A novel pH sensor based on the deposition of electrostatic self-assembled polyallylamine hydrochloride and polyacrylic acid on the cladding of a long-period fiber grating has been designed. The overlay thickness is of the order of magnitude of the light wavelength used to interrogate the sensor. A theoretical model of multilayer cylindrical waveguides based on coupled-mode theory has been used to predict the position of the attenuation bands as a function of the overlay thickness. A study of the role that pH plays in the thickness of the sensitive overlay was carried out. Experimentally, a wavelength shift of the attenuation bands of up to 85 nm was obtained in the 4-7 range of pH units. The results are reproducible, which indicates the possibilities of a multiple-use sensor.     

Optical fiber long-period gratings with Langmuir-Blodgett thin-film overlays

An overlay material was deposited by the Langmuir-Blodgett technique onto a single-mode optical fiber containing a long-period grating. The long-period grating exhibits characteristic attenuation bands in its transmission spectrum whose central wavelengths were observed to depend on the optical thickness of the overlay material, even for materials that have a refractive index higher than that of silica.     

Magnetic-force-induced long-period fiber gratings

A novel formation method of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) based on a magnetic-force-induced microbend is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The LPFG employs a permanent magnet that exerts transversal force to the fiber by attracting a steel coil spring. The transversal force causes periodic microbending to the fiber, and therefore the transmission wave attenuates at the core-to-cladding mode resonance. This device has advantages of ease of fabrication, reconfigurability, and available for any type of fiber.     

Deposition of coatings on long-period fiber gratings: tunnel effect analogy

The sensitivity of Long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs), coated with high-refractive-index thin film overlays, to the refractive index and the thickness of the overlay, and to the ambient refractive index, can be enhanced with a design based on a two-overlay coating of an LPFG. The first overlay of lower refractive index than the cladding affects the guidance of a cladding mode in the second overlay of higher refractive index than the cladding. This causes a more abrupt cladding modal redistribution than with the deposition of a unique high-refractive-index overlay. The phenomenon is analyzed with a method based on a vectorial analysis of modes and the application of coupled mode theory.     

All-optical switching in long-period fiber gratings

Nonlinear pulse propagation in long-period fiber gratings is studied with a mode-locked Q -switched laser pulse approximately 80ps in duration at a wavelength of 1.05 microm . Optical switching, pulse reshaping, and optical limiting are found at intensities in the range of 1-20 GW/cm(2).     

Tunable mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings

We report the experimental characterization of mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings (LPFG's) made by pressing a plate with periodic grooves against a short length of fiber. This filter, which is simple and inexpensive, exhibits transmission spectra and temperature stability similar to those of photoinduced LPFG's. It also offers the unique advantages of being tunable, erasable, and reconfigurable. Its polarization dependence also makes it useful as a polarizer, although it can also be eliminated with simple mechanical designs.     

Fabrication of long-period fiber gratings by twisting a standard single-mode fiber

A new method of fabrication of long-period fiber gratings by twisting of a standard single-mode fiber at high temperature is presented. The method relies on the fact that there always exists some core-cladding eccentricity in the optical fiber. Therefore, when the fiber is twisted, its core follows a helicoidal path inside the cladding. The transmission spectrum of the helicoidal long-period fiber grating that is produced contains several dips that correspond to resonances with the fiber cladding modes.     

Random period arc-induced long-period fiber gratings

We report the fabrication of arc-induced long-period fiber gratings with strong random variations in the period. Long-period fiber gratings with standard deviations in the period from 8.50 to 36.98 μm were fabricated. The spectral position of the resonant bands is determined by the average period value, being similar to that observed in a long-period fiber grating with a fixed period equal to the average period of the random grating. Moreover the notch bands keep the shape characteristics like wideband and depth compared with a long-period grating with a constant period. In addition, their sensitivity to external parameters such as ambient refractive index is not too different with that of fixed period long-period gratings.     

Bending sensitivity of in-series long-period fiber gratings

The interference fringes formed in a long-period fiber grating pair are sensitive to the loss in the cladding mode, which can be induced by bending or by coating on the fiber. Assuming that there is no loss and that both gratings are identical, the interference fringes are shown to have 100% contrast when each grating has 50% transmissivity. By contrast, if the cladding mode is absorbed or scattered the fringe contrast is shown to be degraded. The spectral behaviors of a long-period fiber grating pair with loss is analyzed by the coupled-mode theory and is compared with experimental results.     

Optical-fiber-to-waveguide coupling using carbon-dioxide-laser-induced long-period fiber gratings

Optical fibers are expected to play a role in chip-level and board-level optical interconnects because of limitations on the bandwidth and level of integration of electrical interconnects. Therefore, methods are needed to couple optical fibers directly to waveguides on chips and on boards. We demonstrate optical-fiber-to-waveguide coupling using carbon-dioxide laser-induced long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs). Such gratings can be written in standard fiber and offer wavelength multiplexing-demultiplexing performance. The coupler fabrication process and the characterization apparatus are presented. The operation and the wavelength response of a LPFG-based optical-fiber-to-waveguide directional coupler are demonstrated.     

Twist characteristics of the ultraviolet-written long-period fiber gratings

Twist characteristics of the ultraviolet-written long period fiber gratings (UV-LPFGs) are investigated in this paper. It was found experimentally that the resonance wavelength of the UV-LPFG shifts to short side proportional to square of the torsion rate, when it is twisted in both directions of clockwise and counter-clockwise, which is different from that of LPFGs written by CO2 lasers, but similar with that of the corrugated LPFGs. The phenomena can be explained by mechanisms of static compression in twisting and index change caused by photo-elastic effect.     

Spectral polarization-dependent loss of cascaded long-period fiber gratings

We have measured the spectral polarization-dependent losses of cascaded long-period fiber gratings composed of single, double, and triple identical gratings and fabricated by exposure of a UV laser beam on one side of a fiber. The measurement was made by use of the Mueller matrix method for scanning the wavelength of the incident beam. The polarization-dependent loss was dramatically increased as the number of cascaded gratings was increased. The formation of the UV-induced geometric birefringence in the fiber grating and its relationship to the fine interference fringes formed by cascading gratings are discussed.     

Fabrication of long-period fiber gratings by use of focused ion-beam irradiation

Long-period gratings have been made in nonphotosensitive optical fibers by irradiation of the core of a fiber with a focused beam of high-energy protons. The irradiated fibers exhibit relatively low loss, even before thermal annealing, and possess strongly wavelength-dependent transmission. The absence of a mask provides the opportunity to tailor the grating to a desired profile, and a variety of grating profiles were explored. The profile most resembling a sinusoid was found to produce the cleanest transmission spectra.     

Fabrication of long-period optical fiber gratings by use of ion implantation

We report the fabrication of long-period optical fiber gratings by use of a refractive-index increase induced by ion implantation. Helium ions were implanted in an optical fiber core through a metal mask that had a 170-microm -pitch grating with spacing of 60 microm . We obtained a wavelength-dependent effective transmission loss by use of the grating.     

Mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings on tapered fibers

The characteristics of a mechanically induced long-period fiber grating (MLPFG) made by pressing a pair of grooved plates over single-mode fiber tapers are analyzed. Fiber tapers with a waist length of 80 mm and diameter ranging from 90 to 125 μm, fabricated using the heating and puling method, were used. We observed that the resonance wavelengths shift toward shorter wavelengths as the fiber taper waist diameter is reduced. A maximum shift of 254 nm in the position of the resonance peaks was observed when the fiber diameter was reduced to 90 μm. This technique is particularly suitable for tuning the resonance wavelengths to shorter wavelengths below the limit imposed by the grooved plate period.     

Cladding-mode-assisted recouplings in concatenated long-period and fiber Bragg gratings

We investigate new types of mode recouplings in a concatenated grating structure comprising a long-period grating and a fiber Bragg grating. It is demonstrated that the light coupled out to the cladding mode by one of these gratings can be recoupled back to the guided mode by the other grating. Theoretical analysis based on the coupled-mode theory is presented, together with experimental results.     

Temperature impact on mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings

The spectral response of mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings (MLPFG) to the ambient temperature variation was experimentally study. In the MLPFG setting, a pressure rig with aluminum grooved plates on standard telecommunication fiber was used. We found that a relatively low change in temperature can produce a severe impact on the characteristic parameters of the attenuation bands, such as a critical decrease in the contrast and fast shift saturation. When the temperature increases from −10 to 70 °C, all the bands are shifted toward longer wavelengths with a mean sensitivity of approximately 180 pm/°C from 0 to 40 °C in the near-linear region, then they present a flattened zone beyond this temperature. Meanwhile, the contrast of the attenuation bands rapidly decreases from the maximum value to 0 dB with a quasi-cosinoidal behavior. These results are important and have to be considered when MLPFG are applied in a medium with ambient temperature variation. Furthermore, we show that MLPFG can be used as low cost ambient temperature sensors through intensity based measurements.     

Characteristic research on mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings

A full experimental characterization of mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings （MLPFGs） fabricated by pressing a plate with periodic grooves against a short length of fiber is presented. This technique enables a good control over the gratings＇ isolation loss peaks and has high repeatability. The spectra characteristics of MLPFGs are studied with the change of the parameters including pressure, period, and temperature. The produced MLPFGs have low insertion loss （〈 0.2 dB） and the loss peaks can be higher than 20 dB. A large tunability of the resonant wavelength （〉 14 nm） is achieved through adjusting pres- sure grooves＇ period. The center wavelength temperature sensitivities of 0.057, 0.086 nm/℃, and resonant peak temperature sensitivities of 0.230, 0.312 dB/℃, are achieved for jacketed and unjacketed fibers, respectively. These MLPFGs, which are simple and inexpensive, also offer the unique advantages of being tunable, erasable, and reconfigurable.     

基于长周期光纤光栅的FBG解调方法北大核心CSCD

研究了基于长周期光纤光栅(long-period fiber gratings,LPFG)的光纤布拉格光栅(fiber Bragg gratings,FBG)解调方法,该方法利用LPFG的透射谱作为边沿滤波器解调FBG,其解调性能主要取决于LPFG的透射光谱深度。详细分析了CO_(2)激光写制法对透射光谱的影响,制作了透射光谱深度为25 dB的LPFG,并采用该光栅搭建了FBG解调装置,将FBG粘贴于金属应变片表面,测试了其静态与动态响应特征。实验结果表明:该方法制作简单,成本低,具有较好的线性动态范围,可以实现较高灵敏度的FBG解调。