High-temperature sustainability of strong fiber Bragg gratings written into Sb-Ge-codoped photosensitive fiber: decay mechanisms involved during annealing

An antimony--germanium- (Sb--Ge-) codoped fiber specially designed for the fabrication of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with high temperature sustainability has been developed. The photosensitivity and the high-temperature sustainability of FBGs that have been written into this fiber were tested. The results obtained showed that the FBG written into this fiber has a very high temperature sustainability of 900 degrees C. A decay mechanism that involves cation hopping is presented to explain the observed high temperature sustainability of the grating written into this fiber.     

Photosensitivity and photoluminescence of Sn/Yb codoped silica optical fiber preform

Sn/Yb codoped silica optical fiber preform is prepared by the modified chemical vapor deposition （MCVD） followed by the solution-doping method. Ultraviolet （UV） optical absorption, photoluminescence （PL） spectra under 978-nm laser diode （LD） pumping, and refractive index change after exposure to 266-nm laser pulses are obtained. There is only a little change in the PL spectra while a positive refractive index change up to 2×10^-4 is observed after 30-min exposure to 266-nm laser pulses. The results show that both of the peculiar photosensitivity of Smdoped silica and the gain property of Yb-doped silica fiber are preserved in the Sn/Yb codoped silica optical fiber preform. The experimental data suggest that the photosensitivity of the fiber preform under high energy density laser irradiation should be mainly due to the bond-breaking of oxygen deficient defects, while under relatively low energy density laser irradiation, the refractive index change probably originates from the photoconversion of optically active defects.     

Ultraviolet photosensitive response in an antimony-doped optical fiber

A silica optical fiber doped with Sb is fabricated with a refractive-index profile that is comparable with standard single-mode fiber. In D(2)-loaded samples, we observe UV photosensitivity with an initial refractive-index-modulation growth rate six times higher than that of the equivalent Ge-doped standard fibers. Enhanced temperature stability of the Bragg grating strength up to 200 degrees C is also observed. Grating growth kinetics in the Sb-doped fiber is compared with those of other Ge-doped photosensitive fibers.     

Yb-doped superfluorescent fiber source with cascaded broad fiber Bragg gratings

In this paper, the Yb-doped superfluorescent fiber source (SFS) with cascaded broad fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are reported. The spectral properties of this SFS with cascaded broad FBGs are described and compared with that without cascaded broad FBGs. The experimental results have shown that cascaded broad FBGs can increase the output of some special wave bands.     

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.     

Spectral characteristics of the erbium-bismuth co-doped silica fibers and its application in single frequency fiber laser

We developed two kinds of erbium (Er)-bismuth (Bi) co-doped silica fibers with different erbium doping concentrations. After investigation of its spectral characteristics, it was found that the co-doping of the bismuth could alleviate the clustering of the erbium ions in the silica fiber and thus improve the fluorescence efficiency. However, the near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence spectrum attributed to the bismuth ions was different from that reported before and needs further comprehensive investigation. For the heavy Er doped erbium-bismuth (Er-Bi) co-doped fiber (about 8000 ppm Er concentration), the optical absorption coefficients at the wavelengths of 976 and 1530 nm are more than 40 and 90 dB/m, respectively. A couple of fiber Bragg gratings with proper reflectivity were chosen to be spliced to 2 cm long of this fiber forming a compact linear cavity fiber laser. Upon the excitation of the 976 nm laser diode, stable single frequency fiber laser operation was realized with a maximum side mode suppression ratio more than 60 dB and a line-width less than 1 kHz. By splicing a segment of the Er fiber to the output end of the fiber laser, the fiber laser worked in a master oscillator pumping amplifier (MOPA) structure and emitted an increased laser power of more than 100 mW.     

Design and Fabrication of an Er-Doped Silica Optical Fiber with Six Photosensitive Subcores

A type of multi-core Er-doped photosensitive silica optical fiber （MC-EDPF） is proposed and fabricated, in which a high consistency Er-doped core is surrounded by six high consistency Ge-doped cores. The multi-core design can overcome the difficulties encountered in the design and fabrication of single-core EDPFs through a modified chemical vapor deposition method combined with solution doping technology, and there is a conflict between high consistency Er doping and high consistency Ce doping. The absorption of MC-EDPFs achieved 15.876dB/m at 1550mm and lOdB/m at 98Ohm. The refleetivity of the fiber Bragg gratings （FBCs） written directly on the MC-EDPFs is as much as 96.84%.     

Three-hole microstructured optical fiber for efficient fiber Bragg grating refractometer

We present a photosensitive three-hole microstructured optical fiber specifically designed to improve the refractive index sensitivity of a standard fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor photowritten in the suspended Ge-doped silica core. We describe the specific photowriting procedure used to realize gratings in such a fiber. We then determine their spectral sensitivity to the refractive index changes of material filling the holes surrounding the core. The sensitivity is compared with that of standard FBGs photowritten in a six-hole fiber with a larger core diameter. We demonstrate an improvement in the sensitivity by two orders of magnitude and reach a resolution of 3 x 10(-5) and 6 x 10(-6) around mean refractive index values of 1.33 and 1.40, respectively.     

All-fiber actively Q-switched fiber laser tuned by a pair of temperature controlled fiber Bragg gratings

We report an all-fiber actively Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser, where the linear laser cavity mirrors are composed of two fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The laser oscillation wavelength could be tuned by this pair of temperature controlled FBGs. The Q-switching is achieved by an all-fiber phase modulation device. Using this system, we could obtain stable Q-switched laser pulses output, which could be optimized by tuning the reflection wavelengths of the two FBGs to be adjacent to each other. Instead of being modulated by the FBG filter in high-speed oscillation, this fiber laser system is operating in the Q-switched regime using an all-fiber phase modulator, producing a more stable laser output spectrum.     

Multiple fiber Bragg grating interrogation based on a spectrum-limited Fourier domain mode-locking fiber laser

A novel fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system based on a spectrum-limited Fourier domain mode-locking (SL-FDML) fiber laser is proposed. Multiple FBGs cascaded in a long fiber are utilized as both the sensors in the system and the wavelength-selected components in the SL-FDML fiber laser. Both wavelength-division multiplexing and spatial-division multiplexing techniques are demonstrated for interrogation of multiple FBGs by mapping the wavelength measurement to the time measurement and by adjusting the driving frequency of the SL-FDML fiber laser. The proposed FBG sensing system, employing techniques of the wavelength- and spatial-domain interrogation of multiple FBGs, can be used in remote and quasi-distributed multipoint sensing.     

Tunable fiber Bragg gratings for application in tunable fiber lasers

The resonance wavelength of the fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) is tuned using two methods. Tunable FBGs are used as the selecting elements in the cavities of tunable lasers. An ytterbium-doped fiber laser with a wavelength tuning range of 1063–1108 nm and an output power of 6 W, a Raman fiber laser with a wavelength tuning range of 1252–1303 nm and an output power of 3 W, and an erbium-doped fiber laser with a wavelength tuning range of 1530–1580 nm are realized, and their characteristics are studied.     

Sensing properties of fiber Bragg gratings in small-core Ge-doped photonic crystal fibers

We report about fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inscribed in two different types of small-core Ge-doped photonic crystal fibers with a UV laser. Sensing properties of the FBGs were systematically investigated by means of demonstrating the responses of Bragg wavelengths to temperature, strain, bending, and transverse-loading. The Bragg wavelength of the FBGs shifts toward longer wavelengths with increasing temperature, tensile strain, and transverse-loading. Moreover, the bending and transverse-loading properties of the FBGs are sensitive to the fiber orientations. The reasonable analyses for these sensing properties also are presented.     

Double-ring cavity configuration of actively mode-locked multi-wavelength fiber laser with equally tunable wavelength spacing

A novel actively mode-locked multi-wavelength tunable fiber laser with equally increased or decreased wavelength spacing is presented. It is constructed using a double-ring cavity combined with an amplitude modulator and cascaded fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). The cavity lengths for all FBGs are intrinsically identical due to the double-ring configuration, and simultaneous mode locking of multiple wavelengths is therefore achieved by applying only one mode-locking signal to the modulator. The FBGs are mounted on a organic plate with angles between adjacent gratings such that the forces applied to the FBGs have an equal force increment; thus, stretching or compressing the cascaded FBGs can achieve a wavelength tuning with equally increased or decreased wavelength spacing.This revised version was published online in March 2005. In the previous version, the published online date was missing     

Efficient single-frequency fiber lasers with novel photosensitive Er/Yb optical fibers

Boron- and germanium-doped highly photosensitive cladding is used in a novel design to achieve photosensitive Er/Yb-doped fibers, permitting short, strong gratings (length ~1 cm, reflectivity >99%) to be written without hydrogenation. The high absorption at 980 nm in Er/Yb fibers permits efficient pump absorption over a short device length, which is ideal for achieving highly efficient single-frequency fiber lasers. Both single-frequency Bragg-grating reflector and distributed-feedback lasers with slope efficiencies of 25% with respect to launched pump power have been realized in such fibers.     

Experimental investigation of pre-irradiation effect on radiation sensitivity of temperature sensing fiber Bragg gratings

The effect of pre-irradiation on radiation sensitivity of fiber Bragg gratings(FBGs) is verified experimentally.FBGs are fabricated in photosensitive optical fibers and single mode fibers with Ge-concentration in a range from 3 mol% to 23.37 mol% in the core.In experiments,the FBGs are subjected to twice γ-radiation exposures to a Co60 source at a dose-rate of 0.1 Gy/s up to a total dose of 50 kGy.Pre-irradiation treatment can reduce the temperature sensitivity variation of FBGs by 18.12%-35.91%,as well as Bragg wavelength shift(BWS) by 8%-27.08 %.Our research demonstrates that pre-irradiation treatment is a feasible method to improve the radiation tolerance of FBGs.     

弯曲光纤布拉格光栅靶式流量传感器的研究

设计了一种基于光纤布拉格光栅(FBG)的弯曲靶式流量传感器,采用COMSOL软件仿真了弯曲靶臂受力时的应变分布规律,并将两支FBGs分别粘贴于靶臂的外侧和内侧进行应力测试,仿真与实验结果表明在外力作用下靶臂外侧和内侧分别产生拉应变和压应变,FBGs反射中心波长产生红移和蓝移。同时,测试了该结构的温度特性,在20 ℃~40 ℃两支FBGs反射中心波长均与温度呈线性关系,从而可消除温度对测量结果的影响。随后搭建了弯曲靶式FBG流量传感器测量装置,在0~800 L/H范围内的测量结果表明,两支FBGs反射中心波长与水流量呈较好的线性关系,其流量灵敏度为48 L/H。     

Chirped fiber Bragg gratings with arbitrary group delay responses using stepped-stretching fiber method

We present the design and development of piece-wise stepped-chirp fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with arbitrary group delay responses using a uniform phase mask in a pre-stretched fiber. The method involves writing a series of sub-gratings on a pre-stretched fiber whose length is varied during the UV exposure process. Two motorized stages are employed to control the length of the pre-stretched fiber in order to adjust the grating pitch at each writing step to achieve piece-wise stepped chirping of the FBG. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the method to produce chirped FBGs with arbitrary group delay responses, a linear-chirp FBG and a quadratic-chirp FBG were fabricated, and their measured performances agree well with analytical predictions. PACS 42.81.-i; 42.79.Dj; 42.79.Ci     

Irradiation effect on strain sensitivity coefficient of strain sensing fiber Bragg gratings

The effect of irradiation on the strain sensitivity coefficient of strain sensing fiber Bragg gratings(FBGs) has been investigated through experiments. FBGs were fabricated in single mode fibers with 3 mol% Ge-concentration in the core and with a H2-loading treatment. In experiments, the FBGs were subjected to γ-radiation exposures using a Co60 source at a dose-rate of 25 Gy/min up to a total dose of 10.5 kGy. The GeO defect in fiber absorbs photons to form a GeE’ defect; the interaction with H2 is a probable reason for the γ-radiation sensitivity of gratings written in hydrogen loaded fibres. The effect mechanism of radiation on the strain sensitivity coefficient is similar to that of radiation on the temperature sensitivity coefficient. Radiation affects the effective index neff, which results in the change of the thermo-optic coefficient and the strain-optic coefficient. Irradiation can change the strain sensitivity coefficient of FBGs by 1.48%–2.71%, as well as changing the Bragg wavelength shift(BWS) by 22 pm–25 pm under a total dose of 10.5 kGy. Our research demonstrates that the effect of irradiation on the strain sensitivity coefficient of FBG is small and that strain sensing FBGs can work well in the radiation environment.