We investigate light propagation in randomly spaced fiber gratings in a single mode fiber, and demonstrate the localization effect. Localization of light in random media resembles that of electrons in disordered solids, resulting from a subtle wave interference formation. We measured the light transmission after each additional grating fabrication and found an exponential decay that follows the localization theory. An important feature of the random array is its similarity to ordered gratings in the transmission and reflection behavior at the long array regime. Besides the basic interest in localization in one-dimensional systems, random grating arrays have potential applications, utilizing the possibility to fabricate long structures with strong and broadband reflections.
We present a simple, and robust method for writing long period fiber gratings with low polarization dependent losses. Our method is based on utilizing mechanical vibrations of the tapered fiber while pooling it. Our method enables real-time tunability of the periodicity, efficiency and length of the grating. We also demonstrate complex grating by writing multiple gratings simultaneously. Finally, we utilized the formation of the gratings in different fiber diameters to investigate the Young's modulus of the fiber.
In this letter we present a new technique for pulse shaping. The desired pulse is shaped by two apodized chirped fiber Bragg gratings which dispersions are adjusted to be cancelled. This technique exploits the well-known property of linearly-chirped gratings, in which the apodization (amplitude) grating profile maps its spectral response. This technique presents inherent advantages of chirped fiber Bragg gratings and direct design in frequency domain.
We report fabrication of THz fiber Bragg gratings (TFBG) using CO2 laser inscription on subwavelength step-index polymer fibers. A fiber Bragg grating with 48 periods features a ~4 GHz-wide stop band and ~15 dB transmission loss in the middle of a stop band. The potential of such gratings in design of resonant sensor for monitoring of paper quality is demonstrated. Experimental spectral sensitivity of the TFBG-based paper thickness sensor was found to be ~ -0.67 GHz / 10 um. A 3D electromagnetic model of a Bragg grating was used to explain experimental findings.
Ultra-broadband long-period fiber grating with 10-dB bandwidth of 155 nm and 3-dB bandwidth of 415 nm is demonstrated around 1060 nm, which has been combined with a tunable ytterbium-doped fiber laser to generate optical doughnut beams in the spectral range from 1030 nm to 1099 nm, and the vector nature of generated optical fields are observed. The long-period fiber grating has also been used to transform the amplified spontaneous emission of an ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier into a broadband optical doughnut beam.
Based on coupled mode equations, the formula of null null bandwidth for tilted fiber grating is deduced in this paper. Numerical simulations and theoretical analysis of the effects of the tilt angle on bandwidth and maximum reflectivity are performed. Furthermore, under the maximum reflection of 95%, the relation of bandwidth with modulation amplitude and length of grating, and the needed length of grating are demonstrated in two three dimensional diagrams. It reveals that the grating tilt can obviously narrow the bandwidth, especially in the case of large modulation amplitude and grating leng…
A compact, strictly all-fiber, picosecond pulse source based on ytterbium (Yb) doped fiber is described. Stable solitary mode-locking is obtained in a fiber-oscillator utilizing a carefully designed chirped fiber-Bragg-grating (C-FBG) for both dispersion control and spectral filtering. Self-starting is assured through the use of a fiber-coupled semiconductor-saturable-absorber-mirror (SESAM). The oscillator's 50MHz 3.8ps pulse-train output at 1064nm wavelength is amplified to 1.2W average power by an Yb doped fiber-amplifier, yielding 6.45ps parabolic pulses. Numerical simulations of the fiber…
Optical fibers typically confine light through total internal reflection or through photonic bandgaps. Here we show that light can be perfectly guided in optical fibers through a different mechanism based on bound states in the continuum (BICs). In fibers with periodic Bragg gratings, we predict bona fide BICs in pure-polarization modes, as well as quasi-BICs in hybrid-polarization modes. These guided modes exist robustly without the need for fine structural tuning, and they persist even with the very small grating index contrasts that are available in conventional fiber Bragg gratings. The su…
We propose an efficient method to determine the effective refractive index of step-index optical fibers from the visible to the mid-IR and thus allowing to infer their dispersive properties over a broad spectral range. The validity of the method, based on the writing of an array of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) with known periods using the fs scanning phase mask technique, is first confirmed with a standard silica fiber, then applied to various fluoride glass fibers to determine their effective refractive index and dispersion over more than three octaves, i.e. from 550 to 4800 nm.
We present highly sensitive refractometers based on a long-period grating in a large mode area PCF. The maximum sensitivity is 1500 nm/RIU at a refractive index of 1.33, the highest reported for any fiber grating. The minimal detectable index change is $2\times 10^{-5}$. The high sensitivity is obtained by infiltrating the sample into the holes of the photonic crystal fiber to give a strong interaction between the sample and the probing field.
We demonstrate apodized fiber Bragg gratings inscribed with a point-by-point technique. We tailor the grating phase and coupling amplitude through precise control over the longitudinal and transverse position of each laser-inscribed modification. This method of apodization is facilitated by the highly-localized, high-contrast modifications generated by focussed IR femtosecond laser inscription. Our technique provides a simple method for the design and implementation of point-by-point fiber Bragg gratings with complex apodization profiles.
A photonic analogue of Klein tunneling (KT), i.e. of the exotic property of relativistic electrons to pass a large repulsive and sharp potential step, is proposed for pulse propagation in a nonuniform fiber Bragg grating with an embedded chirped region. KT can be simply observed as the opening of a transmission window inside the grating stop band, provided that the impressed chirp is realized over a length of the order of the analogue of the Compton wavelength.
Optical fibers can support various modal forms, including vector modes, linear polarization (LP) modes, and orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes, etc. The modal correlation among these modes is investigated via Jones matrix, associated with polarization and helical phase corresponding to spin angular momentum (SAM) and OAM of light, respectively. We can generate different modal forms by adopting superposed helical gratings (SHGs) with opposite helix orientations. Detailed analysis and discussion on mode conversion is given as for mode coupling in optical fibers with both low and high contrast …
We consider mode coupling in multimode optical fibers using either two Bragg gratings or a Bragg grating and a long-period grating. We show that the magnitude of the band edge curvature can be controlled leading to a flat, quartic band-edge or to two band edges at distinct, nonequivalent $k$-values, allowing precise control of slow light propagation.
In recent years there has been considerable interest in utilizing embedded fiber optic based sensors for fabricating smart materials. One of the primary motivations is to provide real-time information on the structural integrity of the material so as to enable proactive actions that prevent catastrophic failure. In this preliminary study we have examined the impact of embedding on the temperature-dependent response of fiber Bragg gratings.
We study the sensitivity of fiber grating sensors in the applications of strain, temperature, internal label-free biosensing, and internal refractive index sensing. It is shown that optical dispersion plays a central role in determining the sensitivity, and the dispersion may enhance or suppress sensitivity as well as change the sign of the resonant wavelength shifts. We propose a quality factor, $Q$, for characterizing LPGs.
In wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks, intraband and/or interband crosstalk plays a major role in limiting practical implementation of an OXC subsystem. Again FIBER BRAGG GRATINGS (FBGs), due to their properties, are emerging as very important elements for both the optical fiber communication and sensing fields. The crosstalk sources are related to the different individual components of the OXC's. In this paper, an analytical model is established to evaluate the performance of an FBG-OC-based optical cross connect and proposed a novel scheme of transmission Fiber Bragg Grat…
We have explored through numerical simulations the amplification of laser pulses in nonlinear fiber Bragg gratings with gain and normal dispersion. The distortion of the temporal intensity profile caused by the higher-order dispersion coefficients is examined. The stabilizing effect of fourth-order dispersion on pulse propagation is demonstrated. For some conditions, the amplified pulse shape evolves towards a Bragg similariton, a quasi-parabolic temporal profile with wave-breaking free temporal characteristics.
Optical fiber with high numerical aperture (NA) can efficiently relieve the degeneracy of higher order linearly polarized modes. The degeneracy relief is investigated in two types of high NA fibers, i.e., low index cladding fiber and high-index-core fiber. A naked core fiber, as with low index cladding, can be used theoretically to generate the orbital angular momentum mode (OAMM) HE21 and the cylindrically symmetric modes (CSMs) TM01 and TE01. A high index core fiber incorporated with high contrast index structure can be used similarly to obtain OAMM HE31. The generation of both CSMs and OAMM…
Selection of operating wavelength of the Yb-doped fiber-ring lasers using longperiod fiber gratings (LPFGs) is suggested. In the proposed method, customized LPFG that sustains high powers serves as a broad-band rejection filter. It modifies the net gain profile of the laser, enabling the peak gain to occur at a designed wavelength. Spectral range of oscillation between 1050-1110 nm was experimentally demonstrated. This range can be extended to both shorter and longer wavelengths with proper design of the LPFG and length of the Yb-doped fiber. The gratings were inscribed by CO2 laser and the gr…
We show that nonlinear phase shifts and third-order dispersion can compensate each other in short-pulse fiber amplifiers. In particular, we consider chirped-pulse fiber amplifiers at wavelengths for which the fiber dispersion is normal. The nonlinear phase shift accumulated in the amplifier can be compensated by the third-order dispersion of the combination of a fiber stretcher and grating compressor. A numerical model is used to predict the compensation, and initial experimental results that exhibit the main features of the calculations are presented. In the presence of third-order dispersion…
We present here the inscription of single-mode waveguides with Bragg gratings in sapphire. The waveguide Bragg gratings have a novel multi-layer depressed cladding design in the 1550 nm telecommunications waveband. The Bragg gratings have a narrow bandwidth (<0.5 nm) and have survived annealing at 1000°C. The structures are inscribed with femtosecond laser direct writing, using adaptive beam shaping with a non-immersion objective. A single-mode sapphire fiber Bragg grating is created by writing a waveguide with a Bragg grating within a 425 μm diameter sapphire optical fiber, providing signific…
We realize a fiber Bragg grating InGaN based laser diode emitting at 400 nm and demonstrate its high coherency. Thanks to the fabrication of a narrow band fiber Bragg grating in the near-UV, we can reach single-mode and single-frequency regimes for the self-injection locked diode. The device exhibits 44 dB side-mode-suppression-ratio and mW output power. Detailed frequency noise analysis reveals sub-MHz integrated linewidth and 16 kHz intrinsic linewidth. Such a narrow linewidth laser diode in the near-UV domain with a compact and low-cost design could find applications whenever coherency and …
The thermal drift of the characteristic wavelength of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) photowritten in the core of microstructured fibers (MOFs) is significantly reduced by inserting a liquid of suitable refractive index into their holes. For instance, the spectral range of variations is divided by a factor of 4 over a temperature range larger than 20\degree C in a six-hole MOF, and the maximum sensitivity is reduced. Such passive FBG temperature compensation technique is of great interest for applications involving accurate sensing free of thermal effects.
The resonance wavelength, where a fiber mode converter grating written using periodic external perturbations achieves phase matching, is both a critical design parameter and a device parameter. However, a method to precisely predict the resonance wavelength for any new fiber and grating writing apparatus has been missing so far. The missing link was the lack of direct experimental methods to estimate the modified intermodal phase after writing with external perturbations. The presented method can make this estimation from a single experiment, over a broad wavelength range, based on a novel mat…
A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with an inverse-Gaussian apodization function is proposed and fabricated. It is shown that such a FBG possesses easily controllable dual-wavelength narrow transmission peaks. Incorporating such a FBG filter in a fiber laser with a linear cavity, stable dual-wavelength emission with 0.146 nm wavelength spacing is obtained. It provides a simple and low cost approach of achieving the dual-wavelength fiber laser operation.
The integration of photonic sensors into microfluidic devices provides opportunities for dynamic measurement of chemical and physical properties of fluids in very small volumes. We previously reported on the use of commercially available Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) and on-chip silicon waveguides for temperature sensing. In this report, we demonstrate the integration of FBGs into easy-to-fabricate microfluidic devices and report on their sensitivity for temperature and pressure measurement in microliter volumes. These sensors present new routes to measurement in microfluidic applications such a…
In recent years there has been considerable interest in developing photonic temperature sensors such as the Fiber Bragg gratings (FBG) as an alternative to resistance thermometry. In this study we examine the thermal response of FBGs over the temperature range of 233 K to 393 K. We demonstrate, in a hermetically sealed dry Argon environment, that FBG devices show a quadratic dependence on temperature with expanded uncertainties (k = 2) of ~500 mK. Our measurements indicate that the combined measurement uncertainty is dominated by uncertainty in determining the peak center fitting and by therma…
We find exact solutions describing bidirectional pulses propagating in fiber Bragg gratings. They are derived by solving the coupled-mode theory equations and are expressed in terms of products of modified Bessel functions with algebraic functions. Depending on the values of the two free parameters the general bidirectional X-wave solution can also take the form of a unidirectional pulse. We analyze the symmetries and the asymptotic properties of the solutions and also discuss about additional waveforms that are obtained by interference of more than one solutions. Depending on their parameters…
The emergence of optical micro/nano-fiber (MNF) with a subwavelength diameter, which has ultra-light mass and an intense light field, brings an opportunity for develop fiber based optomechanical systems. In this study, we theoretically show an optomechanical effect in silica MNF Bragg gratings (MNFBGs). The light-induced mechanical effect results in continuously distributed strain along the grating. It is shown that the power-related strain introduces an optically reconfigurable chirp in the grating period. We develop new optomechanical coupled-mode equations and theoretically analyze the infl…
A polymer/liquid crystal-based fiber Bragg grating (PLC-FBG) is fabricated with visible two-beam holography by photo-induced modulation of a pre-polymer/LC solution infiltrated into the hollow channels of a solid core photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The fabrication process and effects related to the photonic bandgap guidance into the infiltrated PCF, and characterization of the PLC-FBG are discussed. Experimental data here presented, demonstrate that the liquid crystal inclusions of the PLC-FBG lead to high thermal and bending sensitivities. The microscopic behavior of the polymer/liquid crystal…
We demonstrate that a semiconductor laser perturbed by the distributed feedback from a fiber random grating can emit light chaotically without the time delay signature. A theoretical model is developed based on the Lang-Kobayashi model in order to numerically explore the chaotic dynamics of the laser diode subjected to the random distributed feedback. It is predicted that the random distributed feedback is superior to the single reflection feedback in suppressing the time-delay signature. In experiments, a massive number of feedbacks with randomly varied time delays induced by a fiber random g…
In this work, we proposed a high resolution D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on gold grating. Gold grating is introduced to modulate the resonance wavelength and enhance the refractive index (RI) sensitivity. Structure parameters of PCF and gold grating are analyzed by finite element method (FEM) for optimizing the SPR sensor. The simulation results indicate that air hole pitch, air hole diameter and gold thickness and grating constant have little influence on the sensitivity of refractive index, which reduces the requirement of precise process…
We provide an optimal control framework for efficiently coupling light in a bare fiber into Bragg gratings with a cubic nonlinearity. The light-grating interaction excites gap solitons, a type of localized nonlinear coherent state which propagates with a central frequency in the forbidden band gap, resulting in a dramatically slower group velocity. Due to the nature of the band gap, a substantial amount of light is back-reflected by the grating's strong reflective properties. We optimize, via a projected gradient descent method, the transmission efficiency of previously designed nonuniform gra…
A broadband chaotic laser with a flat power spectrum extending up to 8.5GHz is achieved by injecting continuous wave laser light into a chaotic diode laser perturbed by fiber random grating induced distributed feedback, which forms a gain-coupled chaotic laser system. More than triple bandwidth enhancement is realized with appropriate frequency detuning between the master and slave lasers. Unlike normal chaotic lasers, the output from such a broadband chaotic laser is free from time-delay signature, which can be applied for practical real-time random number generations and will find useful app…
By exploiting helical gratings (HGs), we propose and simulate flexible generation, conversion and exchange of fiber guided orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes. HGs can enable the generation of OAM modes, and the OAM conversion between two arbitrary modes guided in fibers. A specific HG can exchange the OAM states of a couple of OAM modes, i.e, OAM exchange. In addition, a Fabry Perot cavity cascaded with two identical reflective HGs can reflect converted OAM modes with a comb spectrum. The HGs based generation conversion and exchange of OAM modes are dependent on helix period, orientation, an…
State-of-the-art fiber Bragg grating interrogators utilize mature concepts and technologies like tunable lasers, optical spectrum analyzers and a combination of time, wavelength, or spatial division demultiplexing approaches. Here, we propose the use of computational compressed sensing (CS) techniques for interrogation of fiber Bragg gratings, reducing interrogator complexity by using a broadband ASE light source and single-pixel detection. We demonstrate temperature sensing using a pre-calibration approach to achieve reconstruction accuracy comparable to uncompressed measurements. We extend t…
Cascaded Raman lasers enable high powers at various wavelength bands inaccessible with conventional rare-earth doped lasers. The input and output wavelengths of conventional implementations are fixed by the constituent fiber gratings necessary for cascaded Raman conversion. We demonstrate here, a simple architecture for high power, fixed and wavelength tunable, grating-free, cascaded Raman conversion between different wavelength bands. The architecture is based on the recently proposed distributed feedback Raman lasers. Here, we implement a module which converts the Ytterbium band to the eye-s…
Optical I/O plays a crucial role in the lifespan of lab-on-a-chip systems, from preliminary testing to operation in the target environment. However, due to the precise alignments required, efficient and reliable fiber-to-chip connections remain challenging, yielding inconsistent test results and unstable packaged performance. To overcome this issue, for use in single mode on-chip systems, we propose the incorporation of area-enlarged grating couplers working in conjunction with multimode fibers. This combination enables simpler, faster, and more reliable connections than the traditional small …
We present a proof-of-concept experiment aimed at increasing the sensitivity of temperature sensors implemented with Fiber Bragg gratings by making use of a weak value amplification scheme. The technique requires only linear optics elements for its implementation, and appears as a promising method for extending the range of temperatures changes detectable to increasingly lower values than state-of the-art sensors can currently provide. The device implemented here is able to generate a shift of the centroid of the spectrum of a pulse of $\mathrm{\sim 0.035\,nm/^{\circ}C}$, a nearly fourfold inc…
We present a structural health monitoring system for nondestructive testing of composite materials based on the fiber Bragg grating sensors and specialized software solution. The developed structural monitoring system has potential applications for preliminary tests of novel composite materials as well as real-time structural health monitoring of industrial objects. The software solution realizes control for the system, data processing, and alert of an operator.
We discuss a phase-sensitive technique for remote interrogation of passive Bragg grating Fabry-Perot resonators. It is based on Pound-Drever-Hall laser frequency locking, using radio-frequency phase modulation sidebands to derive an error signal from the complex optical response, near resonance, of a Fabry-Perot interferometer. We examine how modulation frequency and resonance bandwidth affect this error signal. Experimental results are presented that demonstrate when the laser is locked, this method detects differential phase shifts in the optical carrier relative to its sidebands, due to min…
A numerical investigation of a two dimensional integrated fiber grating coupler capable of exciting several LP fiber modes in both TE and TM polarization is presented. Simulation results and an assessment of the numerical complexity of the 3D, fully vectorial finite element model of the device are shown.
Dynamic population gratings (DPGs) in rare-earth doped fibers are prevalent devices in fiber lasers for the production of single-longitudinal-mode emission, Q-switched pulses, and wavelength self-sweeping regimes. This study presents a transition from Q-switched state to continuous wave (CW) state, accompanying irregular mode-hopping, in an erbium-doped fiber laser with a heavily-doped DPG centered at 1549.95 nm. Our results demonstrate that the transition between these two states can be achieved by adjusting the pump power. The repetition frequency of the Q-switched pulse increases monotonica…
A method for the agile generation of the optical frequencies required for laser cooling and atom interferometry of rubidium is demonstrated. It relies on fiber Bragg grating technology to filter the output of an electro-optic modulator and was demonstrated in a robust, alignment-free, single-seed, frequency-doubled, telecom fiber laser system. The system was capable of 50 ns frequency switching over a ~40 GHz range, ~0.5 W output power and amplitude modulation with a ~15 ns rise/fall time and an extinction ratio of 120 $\pm$ 2 dB. The technology is ideal for enabling high-bandwidth, mobile ind…
The spectral characteristics of a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with a transversely inhomogeneous refractive index profile, differs con- siderably from that of a transversely uniform one. Transmission spectra of inhomogeneous and asymmetric FBGs that have been inscribed with focused ultrashort pulses with the so-called point-by-point technique are investigated. The cladding mode resonances of such FBGs can span a full octave in the spectrum and are very pronounced (deeper than 20dB). Using a coupled-mode approach, we compute the strength of resonant coupling and find that coupling into cladding mo…
A new numerical method is developed for solution of the Gel'fand - Levitan - Marchenko inverse scattering integral equations. The method is based on the fast inversion procedure of a Toeplitz Hermitian matrix and special bordering technique. The method is highly competitive with the known discrete layer peeling method in speed and exceeds it noticeably in accuracy at high reflectance.
In this paper we present a label-free, stable and highly sensitive fiber-optic sensor for detection of environmental toxin microcystin-LR (MC-LR). Thiolated MC-LR-targeting aptamer covalently immobilized on dual-resonance long-period fiber gratings (DR-LPFG) is used as MC-LR recognition element and the spectral response of the DR-LPFG is monitored for various concentrations of MC-LR. Sensitivity of the DR-LPFG is optimized by coating an appropriate thickness of gold layer to the fiber surface. Gold coating serves two purposes, first it locally supports a surface-Plasmon mode associated with th…
We have designed and fabricated a shallow-etched grating on gallium arsenide nanomembranes for efficient chip-to-fiber coupling in quantum photonic integrated circuits. Experimental results show that the grating provides a fiber-coupling efficiency of >60 %, a greatly suppressed back reflection of <1 % for the designed wavelength of 930 nm, and a 3-dB bandwidth of >43 nm. Highly efficient single-photon collection from embedded indium arsenide quantum dots to an optical fiber was realized with the designed grating, showing an average sixfold increase in photon count compared to commonly used ci…
Polarization based sensing with tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) sensors is analysed theoretically by two alternative approaches. The first method is based on tracking the grating transmission for two orthogonal states of linear polarized light that are extracted from the measured Jones matrix or Stokes vectors of the TFBG transmission spectra. The second method is based on the measurements along the system principle axes and polarization dependent loss (PDL) parameter, also calculated from measured data. It is shown that the frequent crossing of the Jones matrix eigenvalues as a function of …
Achieving large bandwidth at strong mode conversion strengths is a central problem in few-mode optical waveguides. The most uncomplicated modification of a standard mode-converting grating is to incorporate a single extra gap. Such simple design has not been applied yet for broadening conversion spectrum between core modes of any few-mode waveguide e.g. few-mode fiber, possibly due to lacking knowledge of critical parameter control: (a) phase shift value at resonance wavelength, and (b) deterministic method for placement of the phase shift(s) accommodating the change in waveguide properties du…
In this paper, we investigate the possibility to excite Bloch surface waves (BSWs) on the tip of single-mode optical fibers. Within this framework, after exploring an idealized, proof-of-principle grating-coupling-based scheme for on-tip excitation of BSWs, we focus on an alternative configuration that is more robust with respect to fabrication-related non-idealities. Subsequently, with a view towards label-free chemical and biological sensing, we present a specific design aimed at enhancing the sensitivity (in terms of wavelength shift) of the arising resonance with respect to changes in the …
The unique spectral behavior exhibited by a class of non-uniform Bragg periodic structures, namely chirped and apodized fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) influenced by parity and time reversal ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry, is presented. The interplay between the $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetry and nonuniformities brings exceptional functionalities in the broken $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric phase such as wavelength selective amplification and single-mode lasing for a wide range of variations in gain-loss. We observe that the device is no more passive and it undergoes a series of transitions from asymmetric reflecti…
A fiber-integrated spectrometer for single-photon pulses outside the telecommunications wavelength range based upon frequency-to-time mapping, implemented by chromatic group delay dispersion (GDD), and precise temporally-resolved single-photon counting, is presented. A chirped fiber Bragg grating provides low-loss GDD, mapping the frequency distribution of an input pulse onto the temporal envelope of the output pulse. Time-resolved detection with fast single-photon-counting modules enables monitoring of a wavelength range from 825 nm to 835 nm with nearly uniform efficiency at 55 pm resolution…
