Faraday rotation in a single-mode fiber with controlled birefringence

Faraday rotation within a polarization non-conserving single-mode optical fiber is used for ac magnetic field measurement. For that purpose the intrinsic fiber birefringence on the path to and from the Faraday rotation section is controlled. As control devices externally applied stress birefringence and phase retarder plates were used. With respect to magnetic field measurements on high electric potentials all control devices are placed at fiber input and output only.     

Reflectometric measurement of birefringence rotation in single-mode optical fibers

We present a novel reflectometric technique for the measurement of orientation and modulus of the linear birefringence vector in single-mode optical fibers. The technique provides information also on circular birefringence, although this component, if present, appears as a rotation of the linear birefringence. A detailed theoretical analysis is reported and validated by experimental results.     

Low-cost wavelength measurement based on a macrobending single-mode fiber

A low-cost all-fiber wavelength measurement technique is proposed and demonstrated. A macrobending standard single-mode fiber is developed as an edge filter with an optimal design and simple surface processing. A ratiometric wavelength measurement system employing the developed macrobending fiber filter demonstrates a resolution of approximately 10 pm in a wavelength range from 1,500 to 1,560 nm with ease of assembly and calibration.     

Finite element analysis on stress-induced birefringence of polarization-maintaining optical fiber

Influence of thermal-mechanical properties on the features of the panda polarization-maintaining optical fiber (PMF) in fabrication process is studied in detail by finite element method (FEM). The stress birefringence is 2.13443×10-4 obtained by the static analysis and 2.1269×10-4 by dynamic analysis. The difference in simulation by two methods is around 0.4%. The non-uniformity of stress birefringence in the fiber core is about 1.6%. Predicted results demonstrate that effect of the thermal conductive parameter on fiber thermal stress dominates. The high and uniform stress birefringence in the fiber core is obtained by appropriately selecting suitable stress region area and position.     

Stress distribution and birefringence measurement in double-clad fiber

Modal birefringence and stress distribution measurements in a single-mode double-clad Nd⁺³-doped fiber are reported. The contribution of different mechanisms, such as stress-induced birefringence, bending and core ellipticity, to the total birefringence is determined for a fiber wound onto a drum. A stress distribution pattern in the cross-section of the fiber is presented. The stresses are shown to be applied to a fiber core along the cladding minor axis.     

Scattered light measurement of the circular birefringence in a twisted single mode fiber

This paper reports the measurements of the twist induced circular birefringence in a single mode fiber by direct observation of the scattered light. The results agree well with earlier theoretical prediction. In addition, an analysis of the evolution of the polarization in a linearly birefringent twisted medium (applicable to weakly guiding single mode (fibers) is given using the coupled mode theory and Poincaré sphere representation.     

Study on stress birefringence measurement of uniaxial crystal

Residual stress birefringence in crystal will affect frequency conversion efficiency and beam quality. In this paper the distribution characteristic of inherent stress birefringence in uniaxial crystal is analyzed, qualitative results are obtained for KDP crystals by digital stress measurement instrument, and the stress gradient distribution is calculated, also the effect of deviation from optical axis on the measured stress distribution results is discussed. Exact determination of stress birefringence and its spatial distribution is of great importance to the manufacture and application of optical materials and components.     

Direct near-field phase measurement of laser diodes employing a single-mode fiber interferometer

A method of direct measurement of near-field phase and intensity distribution of laser diodes employing a single-mode fiber interferometer is proposed and demonstrated. The phase and intensity of the output beam of the laser in the vicinity of the output facet are measured directly via interferometry. Using a 980 nm laser diode as an example, we obtained a beam width of 0.9 and 3.6 μm at the output facet in the vertical and horizontal axes, respectively. In addition, the phase information of the output beam was also obtained by using interferometry. This technique is particularly useful for laser diodes whose near-field phases are difficult to measure directly. The measured vertical and horizontal wavefront radius of curvatures of a laser diode are in good agreement with the calculation from Gaussian beam theory. Detailed understanding and measurement of the near-field phase and intensity distributions of light sources and optical components are essential for micro-optic designs with better mode matching to minimize the insertion loss.     

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.     

Nonholonomic constraint between the polarization state of light and the twisted angle of a single-mode optical fiber with linear birefringence

The relation between the polarization state of light propagating in a twisted single-mode optical fiber with linear birefringence and the twist angle of the fiber is discussed for the case where the fiber is stretched in a straight line. It is shown that this relation is of the nature of a nonholonomic constraint. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 128–129 (November 1998)     

Stimulated Raman spectra generated by ps-pulses in a single-mode fiber

Efficient frequency conversion of 5 ps-pulses from a cavity dumped Rh6G-dye laser by stimulated-Raman-scattering (SRS) into the first and second Stokes order has been achieved. The simulateneously produced asymmetric spectrical broadening of the pump pulses leads to double peaks in the Raman spectrum. By means of spectrally resolved cross-correlation measurements with 2 ps pulses from a second synchronized dye laser, the relative arrival time of the various spectral components is measured. Furthermore it is shown that the effect of a reduction of the pump peak power by SPM is partially compensated by the temporal broadening of the pump pulses leading to a longer interaction length for SRS.     

Brillouin lasing in a single-mode tellurite fiber

We demonstrate Brillouin lasing in a single-mode TeO(2)-Bi(2)O(3)-ZnO-Na(2)O tellurite fiber. A peak value of Brillouin gain coefficients of 1.6989 x 10(-10) m/W is measured on the basis of gain characteristics. An all-fiber Brillouin laser with a maximum unsaturated power of 54.6 mW at 1550 nm and a slope efficiency of 38.2% are achieved from a 200 m tellurite fiber by employing a ring cavity. In addition, a tunable Brillouin comb tellurite fiber laser is demonstrated.     

Coherent combining of tunable erbium-doped fiber lasers by a single-mode fiber feedback loop

We experimentally demonstrate the coherent combining of two tunable erbium-doped fiber lasers by using a single-mode fiber feedback loop configuration. A single-mode fiber is arranged in the feedback loop to filter the far-field pattern, and the energy of desired in-phase mode is collected and injected into the resonators of two component fiber lasers. The coherently combined laser is tunable over a wide spectrum ranging from 1536 to 1569 nm, which means that the combining scheme is compatible with wavelength tuning. The effects and necessity of whether adopting polarization controlling measures or not in component lasers are investigated in detail. The results indicate that adding polarization controlling can improve the array＇s coherence, whereas it will decrease the output power and efficiency simultaneously.     

Supercontinuum generation in standard single-mode fiber pumped by a nanosecond-pulse laser

We have experimentally investigated supercontinuum generation in a conventional single-mode fiber pumped with a nanosecond pulse source. The experimental results show that, when pump power increases, the spectral flatness is improved obviously and the spectral broadening only occurs in a red-shifted radiation rather than a blue-shifted radiation. A supercontinuum source is experimentally reported with a flatness of 4.7 dB over 180 nm (ranging from 1555 to >1735 nm) at pump power P _R = 5 W and is predicted to have the flatness of less than 1 dB at P _R > 8 W. The cascade of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) together with soliton fission plays the key roles in supercontinuum generation.     

Evaluation of the residual birefringence of single-mode erbium-doped silica fibers

We present a nondestructive method that allows the spectral birefringence characterization of single-mode erbium-doped fibers within the amplification band. Using the same optical set up and the predicted polarization eigenmodes, the quality of the results has been verified. The results obtained for three commercial erbium-doped fibers with different erbium concentrations are shown. For two of them, the values measured for the elliptical birefringence shift, for different signal wavelengths, from having a dominant circular component to exhibit a dominant linear component.     

Simultaneous strain and temperature measurement using a highly birefringence fiber loop mirror and a long-period grating written in a photonic crystal fiber

We present a new design for simultaneous strain and temperature measurement using a high-birefringence fiber loop mirror (HiBi-FLM) concatenated with a temperature-insensitive long-period grating (LPG) written in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The FLM acts as a sensor head, while the LPG in PCF serves as a filter to convert wavelength variation to optical power change. By measuring the wavelength variation and the power difference of two near peaks in the spectral response of this configuration, simultaneous strain and temperature measurement is obtained.     

Measurement of birefringence correlation length in long, single-mode fibers

Measurements of birefringence correlation length performed on long single-mode telecommunication fibers are reported. The proposed technique relies on the statistical properties of the backscattered-field polarization, which was measured by means of a polarization-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometer. Experimental results are reported that show good agreement with the underlying theory based on stochastic differential equations.     

Determination of the refractive index profile of a symmetric fiber preform by the transport of intensity equation

The refractive index profile of an axially symmetric fiber preform is determined by using the transport of intensity equation. In this method the preform is immersed in an index-matching liquid, and a collimated light beam impinges on it laterally. The intensity distributions of the transmitted light are measured on two close parallel planes inside the preform core. From the recorded intensity distributions, the deflection function is calculated by the transport of intensity equation. The refractive index profile is obtained by means of Abel inversion. Also, for comparison, the refractive index profile of the preform is measured by the focusing method and the results are in agreement with less than 3% error.