Refractive index measurement with long-period gratings arc-induced in pure-silica-core fibres

We have investigated the sensitivity of arc-induced long-period gratings to changes of ambient refractive index. Two pure-silica-core fibres with different cladding diameters and a standard fibre were used in this study. For a 6 × 10⁻³ change of the refractive index, a 240 pm shift of the resonant wavelength was achieved with long-period gratings written in the 125 μm cladding diameter pure-silica-core fibre.     

Polarization dependent loss of arc-induced long-period fibre gratings

We have investigated the polarization properties of long-period fibre gratings fabricated using the electric arc technique. It was found that the choice of the fabrication parameters (electric current, arc duration and pulling tension) affects the polarization dependent loss of the produced gratings. In particular, a non-monotonic dependence on the external pulling tension was obtained.     

Investigation of the long-term stability of arc-induced gratings heat treated at high temperatures

A long-period grating written in the SMF-28 fibre was heat treated at 1000 °C for 15 days. The spectrum of the grating shifted to longer wavelengths and the resonances depth decreased as a result of structural relaxation. The background loss increased considerably for times longer than 200 h, and this loss is caused by devitrification of the fibre.     

Highly sensitive cladding-etched arc-induced long-period fiber gratings for refractive index sensing

We have investigated the effects of cladding etching in arc-induced long-period fiber gratings. Comparing the position of the resonant wavelengths at each diameter with the corresponding theoretical dispersion curves of effective refractive index, it is found that some of the resonances show a better match with anti-symmetrical cladding modes, while others with symmetrical cladding modes. Etching the cladding diameter to ∼39 μm, results in coupling to a high-order cladding mode that is very sensitive to changes in the ambient refractive index. The resonant peak shifts remarkably (∼230 nm) toward shorter wavelengths as the external refractive index increases. This sensitivity is higher than any previously reported in arc-induced long-period fiber gratings.     

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.     

Phase-shifted long-period gratings by refractive index-shifting

We show that phase shifts in long-period gratings can be obtained by means of refractive index-shifting whereby discontinuities in the differential effective mode index are locally created using, for example, thermally induced effects based on resistive heating. These phase shifts can be made tunable by controlling the amount of the discontinuity. As an additional example, we also illustrate the use of refractive index-shifted LPGs for flattening the spectral output from an Er-doped superfluorescent fiber source.     

Polarization dependent loss of mechanically induced long-period fibre gratings

We present results on the measurements of polarization dependent loss (PDL) of mechanically induced long-period fibre gratings. It is shown that a proper choice of the fabrication parameters leads to a considerable reduction of PDL values.     

Wavelength tunability of L-band fiber ring lasers using mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings

We report on oscillation wavelength control in erbium-doped fiber ring lasers by adjusting the period of a mechanically induced long-period fiber grating (LPFG) inserted into the fiber ring resonator. Pump light is provided by a 974 nm laser diode (LD), the emission of which is coupled into the fiber ring resonator through a wavelength-division multiplexing coupler. Laser oscillation occurs with a threshold pump LD current of 40 mA, corresponding to a threshold pump power of 5 mW. When a periodic pressure of 0.81 N/mm is applied to form the LPFG, the fiber ring laser exhibits the tunable range of 40.9 nm, i.e., from 1563.1 to 1604 nm, by changing the grating period.     

Control of resonant peak depths of tunable long-period fiber gratings using overcoupling

We present a method to reduce changes in the resonant peak depth of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) as the resonant band is tuned by varying the external refractive index. We theoretically analyze the effects of the initial coupling strength on the peak depth change as external refractive index is varied. By controlling the initial coupling strength, it is experimentally demonstrated that an optimum peak depth can be obtained over a range of operating wavelengths that will maximize the sensitivity and stability of LPFG based sensors and tunable filters.     

Electrically tunable long-period fiber gratings with low-birefringence liquid crystal near the turn-around point

In this work, an electrically tunable long-period fiber grating (LPFG) coated with liquid crystal layer (LC) is presented. As a LC layer, a prototype low-birefringence 1550A LC mixture was chosen. As a LPFG host, two types of gratings were studied: the LPFGs based on a standard telecommunication fiber, produced by an electric arc technique with a period of 222 μm, and the LPFGs based on a boron co-doped fiber written by a UV technique with a period of 226.8 μm. The relatively short period of these gratings allowed exploiting unique sensing properties of the attenuation bands associated with modes close to the turn-around point. Experiments carried out showed that for the UV-induced LPFG with a LC layer, on the powered state the attenuation band could be offset from the attenuation band measured in the unpowered state by almost 130 nm. When the arc-induced LPFG was coated with the LC, the depth of the attenuation band could be efficiently controlled by applying an external E-field. Additionally, all experimental results obtained in this work were supported by the theoretical analysis based on a model developed with Optigrating v.4.2 software.     

Designing optimal long-period fiber gratings with the overlapped Gaussian-apodization method for flattening EDFA gain spectra

A new and effective optimization approach to the inverse design problems of complex long-period fiber grating (LPG) filters was developed in the present study. The proposed synthesis method was based on the overlapped Gaussian-apodization method and the evolutionary optimization algorithm which can efficiently search for optimal solutions and simultaneously take into account various experimental requirements for the fabrication of the designed filters. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method, a LPG filter for flattening EDFA gain spectra was designed. Compared to the existing results from discrete layer-peeling (DLP) inverse scattering algorithms, an LPG filter with adaptive grating lengths and much simpler, smoother, and less complicated coupling coefficient profiles for taking the practical fabrication conditions for gain flattening into account, was used in the proposed method. Simulation results confirm that optimal solutions of an LPG filter design are suitable for practical fabrication.     

Fabrication of long-period gratings with a mercury-arc lamp

Long-period gratings (LPGs) were fabricated in hydrogen-loaded standard single-mode fibers by use of a broadband UV mercury-arc lamp. Several kinds of LPGs with loss of ∼50% were fabricated in 40 min. With this technology, LPGs can be mass produced at very low cost.     

Estimation of the fibre temperature during the inscription of arc-induced long-period gratings

The underlying formation mechanisms and the properties of long-period gratings produced through arc discharges are intrinsically related to the temperature reached by the fibre during arc exposure. In this work, the determination of the fibre temperature was based on Plank’s blackbody radiation law. The radiation emitted by the optical fibre during heating due to an electric arc discharge, detected using a Cronin spectrometer, was fitted to the emission spectrum of the blackbody radiation, allowing the estimation of the temperature range attained by the fibre. A peak temperature of 1400 ± 50 °C was obtained.     

Apodized chirped fibre Bragg gratings for dispersion compensation in a 10 Gbit/s IM-DD semiconductor laser system

Different fibre Bragg grating dispersion compensation schemes are studied for a directly modulated 1550 nm single-mode semiconductor laser signal through a standard nonlinear fibre link. The laser diode is simulated by its stochastic rate equations, while the nonlinear Schrödinger equation is used to simulate the propagation. The optimum length for dispersion compensation after transmission through 100 km SSM fibre is studied. Pulses with a FWHM of the order of 65 ps with any linewidth-enhancement factor are reconstructed using pre-compensation or post-compensation with an apodized 5.75 cm chirped fibre Bragg grating.     

Mechanically formed loss-tunable long-period fiber gratings realized on the periodic arrayed metal wires

A new method to tune the peak loss of mechanically formed long-period fiber gratings (MLPFGs) is proposed. Periodic arrayed metal wires are used to obtain the gratings along a single mode fiber (SMF). Self-maintaining gratings are achieved by the bonding force of an UV-adhesive between two glass plates. The initial index modulation formed at room temperature creates a maximum attenuation of −9 dB and −12 dB for coated and uncoated SMF, respectively. By changing the temperature, the peak loss is tuned due to the large thermal expansion of the UV-adhesive. Thermally tunable characteristics caused by the coating layer of the SMF are also described and compared with the results of the device with an uncoated SMF.     

Numerical analysis of GeO2-concentration effects in arc-induced long-period fiber gratings under external refractive-index changes

We present a numerical analysis of the response of arc-induced long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) under ambient refractive-index changes using standard fibers with SiO₂ as cladding material and different GeO₂ concentration in the SiO₂-GeO₂ doped core. We obtain that the LPFG-sensitivity is increased using lower GeO₂ concentrations and it follows a parabolic behavior. Also, we identify two linear regimes using an external index of 1.37: for GeO₂ concentrations between 2 and 3.5 mol %, the LPFG-sensitivity changes with a rate of 3.614 nm per mole fraction of GeO₂, while for higher concentrations the sensitivity changes with a rate of 1.39 nm/mol %. Additionally, for fibers with 2 mol% of GeO₂, the sensitivity calculated is comparable to this obtained in previous works using corrugated and tapered LPFGs in SMF28 fibers. These results are of interest for the design of improved LPFG-sensors.     

Micro-displacement or bending measurement using a long-period fibre grating in a self-referenced fibre optic intensity sensor

The measurement of micro-displacement or bending using a long-period fibre grating (LPG) in a self-referenced fibre optic intensity sensor is presented. The sensing head is based on a LPG whose attenuation peak changes as a function of its micro-displacement or bending and the fibre optic intensity sensor is referenced in frequency. Two other LPGs were used as rejection filters, located at the output of the optical source to shorten its spectral width. The implemented experimental set-up is described and, the results are presented being considered the measurement range and the intrinsic resolution.     

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.     

Dynamic characteristics of nonlinear Bragg gratings in photonic crystal fibres

We study numerically the temporal and spatial dynamics of light in Bragg gratings in highly nonlinear photonic crystal fibre for a CW input signal. Our numerical model is based on the plane wave mode solver and a set of nonlinear coupled-mode equations which we solve using a variation of implicit fourth order Runge-Kutta method. We observe not only bistability of the intensity versus transmitted and reflected light but also complex dynamics. We demonstrate that for values of input intensity above the bistable region the steady state may undergo a supercritical Hopf bifurcation. For some ranges of the input intensity we also observe a coexistence of two periodic attractors. The dynamics found, in particular the features in the bifurcation diagram, strongly depend on the parameters of the fibre. Consequently, we suggest that by proper design of the photonic crystal in the cladding we can adjust such nonlinear features of the Bragg gratings as the width of the bistable region, the intensity at which the bifurcation occurs and also the characteristics of the dynamics at high values of input intensity.